


Bombshell's Therapy Sessions

by TheOnlyTarkles, TheThreeofDiamonds



Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One)
Genre: Bee might have a minor case of post traumatic stress, Bombshell is not a merry man, Bombshell is scary manipulative in this, Cliffjumper is a special type of dork, G1 Optimus has always pretty much been a dad figure, Gen, Get ready for a whole new plot when this is done, He's a jealous baby, He's like that one redneck uncle, I promise, If you're looking to put yourself out of commission every opportunity that presents itself, Insecticons - Freeform, Ironhide's a great role model, Liege Maximo comes into play, Mention of Death, No ships to be seen here, Optimus is very much like a dad in this, Origin Story, Prowl does not have the best of relations with Jazz, Secrets and Plotting, Some of the pranksters are up to no good, The Insecticons are DEFINITELY up to no good, Time for things to start heading South, To make up for his lack of one, We gave Ratchet the grumpy old bot personality, Will Add More Later, Working Past Pain, but let's be honest, mild violence, not graphic, nothing super gruesome, therapy sessions, things will probably get worse before they get better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21881968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOnlyTarkles/pseuds/TheOnlyTarkles, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheThreeofDiamonds/pseuds/TheThreeofDiamonds
Summary: What if the bad personality programming event left a worse impression on Bee than initially thought?This is a roleplay my boyfriend and I are writing out. Enjoy!
Comments: 10
Kudos: 26





	1. Desperation

The Autobot base was bustling with activity as bots went about their business and conversed with one another. They found this to be a day where the Decepticons had made other plans and weren't going around causing trouble. It had been a couple weeks since the evil personality fiasco that the Cons wrought on the Autobots occurred. Everyone seemed to have gone back to the way they should be. With the exception of... Bumblebee.

Every now and again when Bee went into stasis to recharge, his usual calm dreams were plagued with flashbacks of the event. Or more specifically, a rampaging Optimus, wreaking havoc and bringing harm to his friends. There were several points where the dream led to Prime getting ready to end Bumblebee, the small bot missing his window of opportunity to save Prime, and then the sickening crunch of the follow through. After the which, Bee would power back on with a jolt.

These dreams had put Bee on edge and made it hard to feel comfortable around Prime, which he **hated** because he **adored** his leader and didn't **want** to be scared of him. Prime would never hurt him willingly. That was just an exception! Still, he couldn't help it. The dreams kept repeating. This was ridiculous...

On the particularly peaceful day mentioned earlier, Bumblebee was leaning against a hallway wall within the Ark, his arms folded as he stared down at the floor dejectedly. It wasn't long before his brother came crawling into his line of sight. Cliffjumper looked up upon noticing Bumblebee's peds.

"Hey Bee, have you seen... Ratchet's Digiter?" he asked.

Bee blinked and stared down at him. "Huh? Oh. Sorry, I haven't seen it. ...Whatever it is. It's not with his other tools?"

Cliffjumper got up off the floor. "Well, Ratchet said he'd lost it. He sent me to get it because he needs it to help fix one of my digits. I kept asking him questions about fixing it. Then he said he needed me to go find it for him. Told me I'd know it when I see it."

"Maybe Wheeljack walked off with it," Bee suggested.

His brother seemed to frown with thought. "Nah... Wheeljack wouldn't do that. I mean... He did put my glass-gas cannon on one of his shelves and I couldn't find it for a few... _weeks_... but that probably doesn't have anything to do with me using it in his 'general' direction a few weeks earlier." The red mini-bot paused his thought processes and took some time to look over Bumblebee's faceplate. "Hey, are... you getting a good recharge?" he checked.

"No, actually..." Bumblebee admitted. "It's that easy to tell, huh?"

"Well," his brother started, moving a digit up to prod the yellow mini-bot's face annoyingly, "Your optics are a bit dim and you don't have that... chipper attitude you always have."

As annoying as the prodding was, Bee didn't have the energy to get irritated. He simply sighed. "It's been hard to be chipper about anything recently... I keep reliving that event when the Decepticons bugged our personality programming. Which would be fine if it turned out the way it actually did. But when I'm reliving it in stasis, it always ends... very badly..." He begun tapping the digits of his right servo against the side of his left. "It's made it hard to be around Prime without being nervous..."

Bumblebee half expected Cliffjumper to dismiss his concerns and tell him it would go away with time, but instead the red mini-bot hummed thoughtfully and seemed to internalize them. "Maybe you should go see Ratchet. He may have something to help you out. He's in the medical bay. Hey, though, if you do see him, tell him I'm still looking for the... thing he sent me to find." Cliffjumper donned a perplexed expression as he tried to recall what he was looking for. "The... digit-thingy... He'll know what I'm talking about."

"Alright," Bee agreed. "Thanks, Cliffjumper." The mini-bot gave his brother a brief hug before making his way over to the medical bay, seeking the red and white medibot. Ratchet was easy to find when he got there. The medibot was tending to some of his equipment splayed out on a table in front of him, his back to the entrance. Bumblebee approached him. "Hey Ratchet?"

Ratchet paused what he was doing and didn't move for a moment. "Cliffjumper, for the **last time** , if you don't get **out** of my workspace, I will--" The threat was cut off as the medibot turned and discovered that it was Bumblebee and not the other. "Oh, Bumblebee. Sorry about that. What can I help you with?" His gaze turned wary for a moment. "You're not here about aching digits too, are you?"

The mini-bot shook his head. "No. He says he's still looking around for that thing, by the way."

Ratchet grumbled a bit. "Hopefully he stays looking. So what seems to be the problem? Is there something I can help you with?" he pressed.

"I'm, uh..." Bumblebee tapped his digits together as he thought out his choice of words. "I have... I think Spike called them 'nightmares'. When people go into stasis and have images show up that scare them?"

The medibot raised an optic ridge. "Huh. Interesting. Come over here on the table." He said, standing up and motioning to one of the empty medical tables behind him. "Let's get you checked out."

The mini-bot walked over to the gestured table and hopped up, twisting midair to land on it on his aft. With how small he was compared to the others and how the table was set to allow the bigger bots to let their peds rest on the floor comfortably, this left Bee's legs with room to swing. Despite not being in too good a mood, he indulged in the urge to swing them back and forth a bit.

"Okay," Ratchet puffed as he walked over, then stopped beside a wall next to the table and began typing into it. "How long have these nightmares been occurring?"

"Off and on for the past two weeks."

"I see..." A menacing-looking machine popped out of the wall. "If you don't mind me asking, what are the nightmares about?"

Bee's gaze flicked over to the machine to examine it nervously. "Prime stuck with that bad personality programming..."

"Aha, that would cause some nightmares, wouldn't it. Especially if you were fighting Prime to get that rever--" Ratchet paused for a moment and glanced at Bumblebee sympathetically. "Ah... Well... It could be a cause. I'm going to need you to lie down for me here."

The smaller bot hesitated. "Um... Okay..." He resigned, pulling in a small intake before lying down straight on the table.

The medibot took a portion of the equipment and set it on Bee's faceplate. Despite its menacing appearance, it was rather comfortable. "So, here's what we're going to do: we're going to put you into stasis, and this machine here will record the nightmare, so that we can deduce what is causing this," he explained. "Ready?"

Bumblebee did his best to relax. "Okay, Ratchet... I-I trust you. Ready."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright Bumblebee, rise and shine."

The mini-bot groaned quietly as he sat up. The abrupt and controlled beginning and end of the nightmare had been jarring. The machine extension had been removed from his faceplate before he fully powered on, which made the jump from one scene to another very confusing. It took him a moment to figure out how he had gotten there in the first place. "I hope you got what you were looking for..."

"Well, I'm no Mnemosurgeon," Ratchet stated, "but it looks like you're just suffering from a case of high stress due to that personality flip we went through. I'm going to put a word in to Prime, get you some time off."

From out of sight behind Ratchet came the voice of Cliffjumper. "What about that one Insecticon?"

The medibot snarled and whipped around to face him, sheer anger raging in his optics. "Cliffjumper, I **swear to Primus** , get **OUT** of my **SPACE**!!" He shouted.

Not being one to take much offense to the anger, he merely responded with, "Hey, just making a suggestion," before he turned and walked out of the medical bay again.

With a disgruntled huff, Ratchet watched him leave, then turned back to Bumblebee. "You're free to go, li'l buddy. Take it easy, okay?"

Bumblebee glanced between the medibot and the door his brother left through, then gave Ratchet a quick but meaningful vote of thanks before hopping off the table to run after Cliffjumper. He caught up to him in the hall. "Cliffjumper! What did you mean about one of the Insecticons?"

His brother's optics lit a bit brighter for a moment as he smiled, clearly pleased Bumblebee took an interest. "Well, you'll have to find them first," he said matter-of-factly. "I think they were in a swamp in... I don't know. One of the swamps in that one hot country. Ask Teletrann 1. But while two of them are really stupid, one is actually good with... the brain thing... what Ratchet was mentioning." Cliffjumper shifted his gaze to the floor in thought for a moment as if trying to remember something. "He put me and Big Red through a few ringers one time. I remember it was the round one." He added.

Bee's gaze turned thoughtful. "Hm... He probably wouldn't help for free. They like... They like to eat their fill of energy, right?" He checked.

"Yeah. I think they raid farms and stuff like that. They have a weird way to convert resources into energon, but they really like the real stuff."

"We've still got the stuff we confiscated from the Decepticons, right?"

"Yeah, lots of stuff," his brother replied, then paused. "What stuff are you talking about?"

"The energon cubes, Cliffjumper," the yellow mini-bot stated.

"Ooooohhhhh," the red mini-bot exclaimed with understanding. "Yeah, we still have that."

"Good. I'm going to take one and let that one Insecticon have it as incentive to help." Bumblebee lifted a digit to point at his brother firmly. "Don't. Tell anyone."

"Got it." Another pause. "What do I tell them instead?"

"Just... uh..." It was Bee's turn to go quiet as he thought his options through. "A Decepticon sneaking in and stealing away only _one_ wouldn't be a very likely story, would it?"

"Um... no..." Cliffjumper confirmed, shifting his gaze to the floor and wracking his processor for some viable excuse.

Bee sighed and gave up thinking about excuses. "Just pretend you don't know anything about what happened."

"Got it."

"Okay," the yellow mini-bot reaffirmed. "I'll be back as soon as I can. If I'm not back in... a while... like a couple days or something... then please come look for me. Not alone, though. Don't be stupid."

"What, _me_?" Cliffjumper gaped. "What could I do wrong?"

"I just worry about you sometimes." While Bumblebee knew Cliffjumper could handle himself with the proper equipment, he knew his brother was still prone to making rash decisions on the battlefield.

Cliffjumper slapped his servos down on Bee's shoulders rather hard and stared intently into his optics. "Bee, you know me. Have I ever messed up that makes me obviously stupid?"

Bumblebee stared straight into his optics in return with a blank expression. ...Was he joking? "Yes," he said flatly.

"What?! When?!" Cliffjumper yelped indignantly.

"Like that time when you thought Mirage was a traitor? You blew his plan and got him hurt," Bee pointed out. He loved his brother, but honestly. Optimus told him directly that Mirage was fine, but Cliffjumper went out of his way to prove otherwise only to find out that Optimus was right after all.

The red mini-bot's expression drooped. "Oh... That." The look was quickly replaced with a flustered one. "We're on good terms now, okay? You just go do... whatever it was you were going to do." He raised a servo and swiftly brought it down on Bee's shoulder roughly, making his brother wince. "Okay?"

"Okay, okay. Remember, you don't know anything." And with that, the yellow mini-bot walked away. He heard Cliffjumper call after him.

"Okay. I'm going back to finding the digi-thingy for Ratchet." Upon glancing back, the twin was seen back on the floor and crawling around again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day, Bumblebee arrived at the swamps the Insecticons called home with an energon cube in hand. He wandered around, carefully meandering around the swamp-life. Bumblebee's nerves were quivering enough as was. The fact that the place was made stupidly dark by the tree canopy didn't help in the slightest. A bit further into the swamps, he started to second-guess his decision to make a deal with a Decepticon ally, but at this point he was so desperate to not be scared of Prime that he was willing to do just about anything.

Eventually he stopped and dared not go further, then called out into the darkness. "Hello?? Insecticons?? Or... Well, I just need the round one. I was just wondering... if you could help me."

From the darkness all around him rang out the Insecticons' voices in response, echoing and making it difficult to pinpoint where they were coming from.

"An Autobot enters our lair~ Lair~"

"Intriguing, is it not?"

"Kickback sees an energon cube. There, in the yellow one's arms."

If Bumblebee had the ability to get goosebumps, those systems would have been up and kicking. He slowly turned, hoping to somehow catch sight of the source of the voices. "Yeah... Yeah, I've got an energon cube. And one of you can have it _if_ you help me."

"Only one? One?"

"Or you can share with each other," Bee amended. "Whatever you want to do with it. But again! Only if you help!"

"A plea for help?" One voice mused. "How interesting. Could this be an Autobot trick? Autobots are known to never travel alone.

"Kickback sees no other Autobots. He is alone." Another observed.

"True, but they are known to lie in wait for us."

This was going nowhere Bumblebee wanted. "What can I do to prove to you I'm alone?" The mini-bot inquired.

"The cube! Cube! Set it down and leave! Leave!"

"What?? No! I told you, I really need help! I'm not just giving you the energon cube for free!" He objected.

"Kickback cannot wait! Kickback **must have** the energon cube!" One shrieked.

"Kickback, wait!"

From out of the darkness, a large mechanical grasshopper leapt around wildly, tearing up the earth beneath him, trees around them, and whatever else got in his way as he charged for Bumblebee.

The mini-bot staggered backward in shock and fell onto his aft, leaving him open for the enraged Insecticon to throw a kick at him. He flinched and squeezed his optics shut, waiting for the blow, only to find it didn't come. The small bot chanced opening his optics again to find the Insecticon paused mid-kick.

"Calm yourself, Kickback..." Soothed one of the others. "Everything will be just fine."

Kickback converted to his robot mode and simply stared ahead. "Kickback is fine."

"Come to me."

"Kickback will come to Bombshell." When the bot turned to retreat back into the darkness, a small beetle-shaped piece of metal could be seen on the back of his neck. As the grasshopper disappeared, the one known as Bombshell walked out to take his place.

"Bombshell is no fun. Fun. The Autobot would have been finished. Finished." Chimed the third Insecticon from within the darkness.

Bumblebee got to his peds and eyed Bombshell warily, ready to make a dash for it if he needed. He took a deep intake and tried to keep his plating from rattling.

"Stay, Kickback," Bombshell ordered.

"Kickback will stay."

"I apologize for my companion's outbursts. Some of us can be quite impatient. It's a nasty habit we have amongst us." The bot paused and tilted his head slightly. "It is rather interesting that you would come to _us_ , of all transformers, for help. Not many come to us for... how would you say... 'assistance'. So, that begs the question. What brings you to us? Why ask us for help?" Bombshell started to orbit Bumblebee like a vulture, gazing down at him as if he were picking away at the smaller bot's spark. "Do you seek refuge? Perhaps you need... _protection_. Perhaps... you fear one of your own comrades. I see your optics. They seem weary. As if afraid. Not out of fear of a recent attack, no. But of a _constant_ fear, always _looming_ over you." He stopped in front of Bee close enough that they were mere inches apart, making the mini-bot have to crane his neck to look up at him. "As if you know that **he** could turn on you at any moment..."

Bee had grown increasingly unnerved as Bombshell had speculated his problem while circling him. Once the Insecticon finished, the mini-bot shrunk back a tad. Maybe this visit was a bad idea... "I-I don't want to be scared of him anymore... I was told... one of you could help with mental stuff like that..." he uttered quietly.

"Ah... So you _are_ afraid. To be afraid is... natural for someone as small as yourself. Look at me and my brethren. We are small in comparison to the other Decepticons that loom over us. Why do you think we live in this swamp of filth? We separate ourselves so we may do as we please. We do not live in the same fear that you seem to, my yellow friend." Bombshell then slowly turned and walked back toward the darkness, hands gripped behind his back. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that we cannot help you in this matter."

Bumblebee widened his optics and swiftly started after him. "Wait, no, please! There must be **something** you can do! I can't keep going like this!" He pleaded, stopping when Bombshell halted and half-turned to him again.

The Insecticon tilted his head and hummed thoughtfully. "Well. I suppose there is... one thing we can do," he replied with a drawl. "But I will require a greater fee."

"H...How big...?"

There was a pause and then, "Shrapnel, remove the cerebro-shell I placed on Kickback for me, if you will." As the Insecticon in the darkness obliged, Bombshell redirected his attention to Bee. "My price will be six energon cubes per day we do this. I will take the one you have as a 'down payment'."

"Six?!" the mini-bot yelped. "But I barely snuck out with just one! The others would definitely notice if I left with six!"

"To me," the Insecticon replied cooly, "that just sounds like an excuse. If you truly want this, then you will pay my fee. Keep in mind, I do have hungry mouths to feed."

Kickback groaned in the background. "Kickback feels dizzy..."

Shrapnel snickered. "That's what happens when you buzz around. Around."

"Although, I suppose we could negotiate on the fee..."

Bumblebee hesitated, thinking over the Insecticons' needs. "I don't suppose I could talk you down to four?"

"That seems... fair. But, again, this would be per day we do this," the Insecticon reminded.

"I think I can do that... I'll find some way..."

From the darkness behind Bombshell came Kickback's observation of, "Kickback sees energon cube! Why does Bombshell not take it?!"

"Bombshell is striking deals. Deals. He will get the cube. Cube." Shrapnel replied.

"Why make deals? Kickback wants cube. **Now**!" The other snapped.

"Very well. Now," Bombshell extended a servo toward the mini-bot, palm up. "If you would be so kind as to hand over the energon cube? It would seem that one of my brothers grow impatient."

If it meant keeping that grasshopper away from him, he was more than happy to oblige. Bumblebee set down the cube on the presented servo and took a step backward.

The Insecticon in front of him proceeded to take a slice out of the cube and toss it behind him, and Kickback promptly dived for it, setting upon it like a savage animal given a piece of meat. Shrapnel stepped out of the darkness and flittered his wings excitedly.

"My piece! Piece!" He requested.

"Patience, brother," Bombshell soothed, slicing off another chunk of energon. "All will have their share."

When the chunk was tossed toward him, Shrapnel snatched it out of the air the moment it got close and began devouring it ravenously.

Bee was so glad those pieces of energon cube weren't him. "So... Will there be a session today or next time I visit?" He asked, moving his attention away from the eating Insecticons.

"No sessions today," Bombshell promptly replied. "You do not have time. Your fellow Autobots will be wondering where you have gone to. Meet us back here in one week's time. Then we will begin these... sessions."

Bumblebee gave him a determined nod. "Got it. I'll be back." And with that, the mini-bot left for home.

The Insecticons waited for him to leave their sight before Shrapnel spoke up. "You will not _actually_ help the tiny Autobot. Autobot. Will you, Bombshell? Bombshell?"

The lead Insecticon took a bite out of his portion of energon cube. "He is desperate, Shrapnel. And besides, I only need to _act_ like I'm helping him. The longer I drag this out, the more energon we have to feast upon. And, eventually, he may even be useful to us."

"Yes!" Kickback added enthusiastically. "Kickback want more energon!"

A smirk played at Shrapnel's lips. "This deal is better than the ones made with the Decepticons. Decepticons."

"Speaking of," Bombshell remembered, "we are expecting a visit from one of the seekers. For all intents and purposes, they'd better hope they don't betray us this time."

Shrapnel made a sound of irritation. "It better not be that Skywarp or I will bite him. Him."

"We shall see who it is. It was encrypted, so it will most likely be Starscream. If it so happens to be Skywarp... leave him to me."


	2. Kept In the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bumblebee finally gets "help".

The small yellow Autobot plodded along back to base numbly, wondering just how he was going to pull this operation off without getting caught. The idea of sneaking so much energon behind his friends' backs made his spark churn with guilt, but he was serious when he said he couldn't bear staying afraid of Optimus. When he finally entered the Ark, he found Jazz, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker all engrossed in conversation.

"Man, I'm tellin' ya. Prime's A-game is one we gotta beat when it comes to shootin' hoops. He's killer out on the court!" Jazz exclaimed.

Sunstreaker added, "Yeah, Prime sure has those moves, all right. I just wish that **somebody** would play by the rules. My paint job would really appreciate it." At the end of his complaint, he jabbed Sideswipe with an elbow and shot him an annoyed look.

Sideswipe returned the look with an indignant one. "Hey, I do play by the rules!"

Sunstreaker narrowed his optics while Jazz raised a skeptical optic ridge.

"Okay, I bend some of the rules," Sideswipe amended lamely. The looks he was receiving intensified. "Okay, I bend them a lot," he finally admitted. "You don't have to bug me about it."

"Dude, we wouldn't bug ya if you'd just fraggin' follow the rules," Jazz pointed out. "Or not scrape up the rest of us while you do your own thing."

"Hey, I do what I gotta do to win. As the humans say: No pain, no gain."

Oh. The game was over? Boy, Bumblebee really lost track of time. He thought he still had time to make it. The mini-bot tried to slip by the bickering bots to avoid questions, but curse his paint job for standing out so much. Sunstreaker caught the motion out of the corner of his optics and noticed him.

"Hey Bee, where were you today? We missed you on the court."

That attracted the attention of the other two bots and there went Bee's hopes of not having to answer questions. The mini-bot tensed when he was talked to, then hurriedly composed himself and turned to the small group. "Sorry, I felt like going for a cruise around the city," he lied.

A small Jazz-like grin stretched across the white bot's faceplate. "Hey, I might do that later tonight. Sounds like a good time to be had."

"How'd the game go?" Bee asked, trying to keep the questions about what he did today to a minimum.

Sunstreaker shrugged. "Well, the usual. Prime's team won. Bro was bro."

This earned a sharp, " **Hey** ," from Sideswipe.

The first brother continued without regarding the complaint. "But hey, before you go off again, we were planning a prank on Wheeljack. Jazz already has a leg up on us. Took a lot of his equipment without him noticing. We're just trying to find a way to do better than that."

"Got any bright ideas, li'l bud?" Jazz asked.

Bumblebee hummed and wracked his processor. Prank ideas, huh? "How did you get most of his tools?" He asked Jazz.

"Paid a visit to him just before the game and grabbed the tools while he was busy with something else," he answered proudly. "I took off for the game when he started lookin' around for some of the stuff. Got 'em hid real good."

"What kind of pranks do you want to stick to?" This was crucial information if Bee was going to suggest anything. After all, there were so many different forms of pranks.

"Hide-and-seek type things," Sideswipe specified, trying not to look like he's enjoying a sudden thought that came to mind. "Nothing... too harmful..."

"We just want him to hold off on making anything," Sunstreaker added. "Saves my finish, for starters."

Bumblebee put a thoughtful digit to his chin and hummed a bit. "Well... You could hide away some of the parts he has built up. One of you could talk with him and keep him distracted while the other grabs the parts and hides them. And if you wanted to do it again, just swap roles."

"Yeah, we could do that," Sideswipe started hesitantly, "but we're kinda competing against each other. Which now sounds kinda dumb when I just realize we're currently talking about it as a group..."

Sunstreaker and Jazz snickered.

"Good thinking, li'l bro. Keep giving us ideas on how to pass you up," the other brother teased.

"Getting that stuff from him is the easy part with how distracted he gets. It's the hiding part that has 'em stumped," Jazz explained to the mini-bot.

Bumblebee looked up at him curiously. "Where did you hide his tools?"

The white race car smirked confidently. "I won't tell you where precisely, but just know there's secret places to hide and move stuff all over the Ark if you know where to look."

The yellow bot blinked, then smiled. "I had no idea."

"As the humans say, 'Mum's the word.' So don't y'all go squawkin'."

"I won't," Bee promised.

Jazz flashed him a trusting expression. "Was more directed at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker."

"Well just you wait, Jazz." Sideswipe shot back. "I'll think of something better than that."

Sunstreaker waved a dismissive servo. "Yeah, you do that, bro. In the meantime, there's a fresh coat of wax that's calling my name. Who knows, maybe I might one up you guys while doing so."

Jazz laughed. "Ha! We'll see!" And with that, he raised a hand in goodbye and walked away.

Bumblebee, too, excused himself from the brothers' presences and immediately made a beeline for the storage room housing the equipment the Autobots took from the Decepticons. Once he got there, he closed the door and started fiddling around with wall panels, floor tiles, whatever was in the room that he could reach, searching for one of those hidden spots Jazz told him about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prime opened the door to the storage room twenty minutes later, having received word that Bee had last been seen coming in. He spotted the small bot underneath a terminal just to the side of the door. "Ah, Bumblebee. There you are."

The yellow bot, who had been so focused on finding an opening that he hadn't heard Optimus come in, jumped so hard he slammed his head against the terminal's underside. He clutched the back of his head with a groan and slowly backed out to sit on the floor properly.

Prime immediately knelt down beside him to help him out from under the terminal. "Oh! I'm sorry, Bumblebee. Are you all right? Did I startle you? I apologize if I did."

The small bot turned his gaze up to meet Prime's. He was tense, but knowing the fact that he was going to get help from Bombshell helped his anxiety ease. He let his leader help up to his peds. "I'm all right, Optimus... Thanks. Were you... looking for me?"

"Yes," the leader confirmed. "Ratchet came to speak to me. He helped me understand what you were going through. I was noticing that you were a bit over-stressed recently, and I didn't have the chance to talk to you about it. But when Ratchet showed me the dream you had in his office, I wanted to speak to you personally to make sure that you were okay."

Bumblebee felt a knot form in his spark and had to force himself to continue making optic-contact with his inspiration. It was embarrassing that Prime saw exactly what the smaller bot was envisioning. Almost shameful. "You..." Bumblebee stammered. "He... showed you that...? ...I-I'm sorry, Prime..."

"It's okay. Ratchet thought it best to show me." Bee felt Optimus' servo come to a rest on his shoulder, the weight and touch almost comforting. "I want you to know that if you do need to talk to me--about anything--all you have to do is let me know. I care about you. I want you to have peace for yourself, just like I want it for all sentient beings."

Bumblebee couldn't keep a calm exterior anymore. Not after that. He gritted his denta as he tried to keep the coolant he could feel rising to his optics down, but this rollercoaster of a day had his emotions on the fritz and that speech was the trigger. Optimus was such a great leader. Bee didn't think he could ever fully express just how much he admired and loved Prime in a familial sense. The coolant spilled out down his faceplate in streams as he stepped forward and hugged what part of Prime he could reach. Mostly one of his legs. He tried to keep his sobs as quiet as possible.

Optimus returned the embrace. The yellow bot's smaller frame and position made it a bit challenging to get a good grip, but he managed. "It's okay, Bumblebee," he soothed, letting the bot hold onto him for a while. "I've let Ratchet authorize a week's break for you. His authority supersedes mine in this particular matter, but you need it." He went quiet for a moment as he thought, then spoke up again. "If I may tell you something?"

The mini-bot sniffed and pulled back to look up at him, giving him a small nod.

"I also often think about when Megatron swapped our personality program... It haunts me to this day that it happened. I can only imagine the kind of destruction that I caused." The leader shifted his gaze to the floor as though hurt, then slowly got to his feet and turned his optics back to Bee. "If there is anything that you need to tell me about, please, let me know. Okay?"

Bumblebee wiped away the residual coolant and sniffed again. "Of course, Optimus... I promise, I'm going to get over this... I'm going to do whatever it takes to heal..."

"I'm glad to hear it." Prime then nodded over to the terminal Bee had been under. "Is there something wrong with Teletrann-1? I could have Wheeljack or Hoist take a look at it if you're having issues."

"Oh, um... No, Teletrann-1 is fine," the mini-bot replied. "I just thought I'd help out the maintenance bots and check to see if there were any parts of the ship that needed fixing. To make things easier for them."

"I see. I'm sure Hoist would appreciate it." The leader began to head for the door, then paused when he reached it. "And Bumblebee?"

Bee perked up with mild worry. Was Optimus about to call him out? "Yes, Optimus Prime?"

"Take it easy. Okay?"

The yellow bot relaxed and gave him a nod. "You too, sir."

With that, Optimus walked out, leaving Bumblebee once again to his own devices. He stared at the door the Autobot leader left through for a few moments, then resumed his search. Eventually he found a moving panel that opened out to a hidden passage behind the Ark’s walls. By a stroke of luck, it led from the storage room to the outside world. With this route in mind, the mini-bot retreated back to the storage room, sealed up the passage again, then left the room to finish out the rest of his day and relax.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

One week passed and as promised, Bumblebee returned to the swamps of Peru with four energon cubes, all carefully stacked on top of each other. "Bombshell!" He called out. "I brought them!"

The Insecticon being summoned hurriedly whispered to his brothers. _"Make sure he sees nothing. We can't have him interfere."_ And without waiting for a response, he dropped from the treetops in front of the Autobot and slowly straightened up. "Welcome back, Yellow One. I see you've brought what I asked. Good."

Bee carefully held out the cubes to him, trying to make sure they didn't fall over. Bombshell needed no coaxing and took the offerings, setting them down beside a tree a few feet away from them.

"If the truth must be told, though, I wasn't sure if you were going to go through with this. Most Autobots would refuse giving up energon when any Decepticon is involved. You have a... different level of determination. I marvel at it."

The smaller bot furrowed his optic ridges, gaining an expression that showed the determination burning within. "I'm not going to stay afraid. I refuse to wait for this to go away on its own. Ratchet said to give myself a week of relaxation. I did that. The nightmares haven't gone away. So if you can help, I'm not passing up the opportunity."

"Well then," the Insecticon turned around to face him and clasped his servos behind his back. "With all that out of the way, we can begin these sessions that you so desire."

Bee gave him a single nod. "I'm ready."

"Excellent, then let us begin. I want you to close your optics."

The mini-bot shut them obediently. "Okay. And now?"

"We are going to go through an exercise." Bombshell motioned to the treetops and whispered. _"Shrapnel, I need you."_ He then resumed addressing Bumblebee. "This exercisewill feel very real. Almost as if the real world around you is falling apart. But no matter what you do, no matter what happens, you **must** keep your optics closed. Otherwise this exercise will be all for naught. Do you understand?"

The Autobot took in a small intake and steeled himself as Shrapnel quietly flew down to hover just beside Bombshell. "Understood."

"Good." Bombshell leaned over to whisper to Shrapnel once again. _"Grab some branches and ready your electric attack. When I break some branches, you do as well. And to what I point to, strike it with your lightning."_ The lead Insecticon grabbed some tree branches and moved to stand before Bumblebee, but kept himself at a distance. "You are at Autobot base. All is... mostly as it should be. You just went through an attack from the Decepticons. You see several Autobots working to repair the base. Even the mighty Optimus Prime is at work to rebuild. What are you doing now?"

Shrapnel grabbed some branches above him and squirmed with gleeful anticipation as Bumblebee thought about the scene.

"I'm... going around offering what services I can," he started slowly, "whether it's fetching materials and tools or helping the medibots patch others up or putting the base back together."

"Good. You are going about your work, when suddenly, in one of the rooms of your precious Ark," Bombshell proceeded to roughly snap the branches in his grasp, making a loud splintering noise, then took hold of some branches of the tree beside him. Shrapnel followed his lead. "You hear a noise. What do you do?"

"I go to see what's making the noise."

The Insecticon continued laying out the scene. "You go and see what's making the noise. When you enter the room, you see him. The transformer that is causing you fear. He is different than how he usually is." He ripped the new branches off the trees, then splintered them once again. "He is angry. You see it in his optics. Already he mercilessly tore one of his comrades in two. Other Autobots hear the commotion and rush in, attempting to stop him. ...But..." The two Insecticons continue to break and shatter branches. "They fall. One by one. What do you do?"

The picture is so vivid that Bumblebee almost started to feel like he was really there in that moment. The sounds only strengthened the illusion, which made the mini-bot freeze with shock and fear. He knew what he had to do. It was just a matter of convincing his body to unfreeze and do it. "I-I go to get Ratchet or Wheeljack, 'cause...!" He stammered, focusing on the rampaging Optimus Prime the picture presented him. "They...! They'd be able to fix him...!"

"You go to them..." Bombshell drawled, "only to see them in pieces. You turn around to find someone else to help... but in the doorway, there he stands. The bot you fear. What do you do now?"

Bumblebee couldn't keep himself from shivering as he lost himself to the image. He took a small step back and whispered, but continued to keep his optics closed. "Prime, please... You're not like this..."

This revelation made Bombshell pause for a minute. He tried not to get excited as he processed what he just heard. This bot was afraid of Prime! This was a brilliant opportunity! He then shook himself back into the present. The scheming would have to wait for when the Autobot left. "Time ticks, Yellow One," he crooned. "You must do something. What will you do in the face of your leader?"

"...I can't... I can't do anything but beg... I can't help him..." Primus above, Bumblebee felt so useless. Here was his leader, not himself, and all of his friends and family scattered on the ground, lifeless. And here was Bee, cowering before the bot he would lay his life down for.

"I see." The conniving Insecticon approached his brother to stand beside him. "As you plead with him he narrows his optics at you, raises his blaster..." He paused for a brief moment, then pointed at the mini-bot. "And shoots you."

Seeing the signal, Shrapnel grinned broadly and wasted no time in shocking Bumblebee with his electricity. It was a real struggle to keep his giddiness under control so he didn't give away his position.

Bee screamed as he was electrocuted. When it was over, he panted and gripped his chestplate, having seen the vision of Optimus shoot him there. "Stop! Please! Optimus, I can't fight you! This is _Megatron's_ fault! You have to take back control!" He shouted desperately.

Bombshell internally debated whether to continue, tilting his head left and right as he jostled his thoughts. Eventually he decided to continue, but only for a while longer. "He hears your plea," he said, "and ignores it." The Insecticon pointed at the Autobot again, causing Shrapnel to electrocute him once more and Bee to scream in turn. " **'No,'** he says, **'I am in control. I do not need you. You all are beneath me. You are no longer worth anything to me.'** His words echo through your mind."

The Autobot dropped to his servos and knees, shakily heaving breaths as he recovered from the shock. The words that Bombshell forced into his processor did indeed bounce around. Not with Bombshell's voice... but with Optimus Prime's. He tried his best to force them back out. That's not what Prime would say...! That's not Optimus! That's... something Megatron would say. "...Megatron..." Bumblebee murmured, a newfound hatred boiling up within him. "He'll pay for everything he's done..."

Bombshell directed his attention to a confused-looking Shrapnel, his brother failing to understand the Autobot's train of thought. _"You're dismissed."_ As soon as the stag beetle disappeared into the treetops, he addressed the mini-bot as he approached him. "You may open your eyes now, Yellow One."

Bumblebee opened his optics and stared down at the swamp water for a bit before he shakily pushed himself to his peds. "How... did you do that...?"

"Truth be told, I did not do anything except put your mind and your senses through some paces. It is natural for someone facing some trauma." With that, Bombshell turned away. "But alas, our time is up. Come back in one week's time. We will continue the sessions."

Bee blinked. "Wait, but... what was this session for?" He questioned. "What did it do?"

"How do I put this..." The Insecticon mused. "Ah, yes. Let me ask you: How do you know there is a problem? A problem in general, I'm not looking for a specific answer."

"Uh... I guess by seeing what exactly is going wrong. Or the damage," he replied.

"In a way, yes. You could see something was going wrong, but you wouldn't have known specifically unless the problem expanded to noticeable levels. Which is what I did. I expanded the problem to a noticeable level," Bombshell explained.

"Oh. That... makes sense," Bee accepted. "Okay, um... I'll see you next week, then." With that, the little Autobot left for home.

The Insecticon waited until Bumblebee was clear out of view and earshot, then spoke up. "Shrapnel, Kickback. We have work to do."

Shrapnel laughed as he flew back down. "What luck! Luck! Optimus Prime is a menace to his pawn! Pawn!"

"Yes... but to an extent." Bombshell began to pace as he thought. "It's something we can fester... but something stands in the way..."

"You got the energon. Kickback wants energon," the grasshopper demanded.

"Cool your wings, Kickback! Kickback!" Shrapnel scolded. "I want to hear Bombshell's plans! Plans!"

The lead brother continued to pace until a plan drew itself in his mind. He stopped with his back to his brethren. "I wonder..." he murmured to himself. "It's possible... but I need to make sure..." He abruptly turned to the darkness of the swamp and pulled out an audio device. "Starscream, come to me."

The desired Seeker emerged from the darkness in his alt mode after a minute, then transformed and landed in the water before resuming his approach. "Your previous engagement is through, Bombshell?" He observed.

"Yes. I have a question for you. You or Megatron wouldn't, perchance, have created a clone of Optimus Prime at one point? I'm just curious."

"We did, indeed," the fighter jet recounted. "It was destroyed, but I'm sure we can make another one. It had to be controlled remotely, however. Megatron took the reins of that particular operation."

"Ah, interesting. If either myself or one of my brethren went with you, could you show us where it was destroyed?"

The Seeker squinted and cocked his head to the side a tad. "I could. What is this about?" He probed cautiously.

Bombshell chose his words carefully, keeping careful watch of Starscream's next reaction. "It is... more of an experiment. But I wouldn't think it would matter to you. Such trifling things shouldn't matter to the 'future leader of the Decepticons,' because if you are planning a coup... again... this matter need not concern you. Just know if you do want our support, all you need to do is show us the remains of this clone. Unless..." He trailed off and looked away, doubt flashing across his expression. "No, it probably doesn't matter..."

Starscream took the bait and flared up. "Unless _what?!_ You dare doubt me and my capabilities?!" He shouted.

The lead Insecticon pretended to backpedal. "Oh. Oh, no no no. Not doubt _you_ , no. More along the lines of those you have already gathered. And if you don't need us... then... you lose three competent warriors. I was going to say, unless you and your already gathered army are ready to face Megatron and his followers, then you don't need us, so you lose nothing. Though, let's be honest." Bombshell's stared Starscream straight in the optics, his expression turning to a snide sneer."We both know that you don't **have** an army."

The proud Seeker gritted his denta and growled. "Why you _insolent_ \--!" He cut off with a huff of fury and hurriedly reined himself in, refusing to get anymore worked up than he needed to. Bombshell was fixed with Starscream's signature indignant look. "Hmph! You will have the shattered remains of the clone, but do not expect me to tote it for you!"

"Of course not," the rhinoceros beetle smirked. "We can take care of that ourselves. We are competent, after all."

If looks could kill, Bombshell would be knifed to death with a very sturdy blade and then some. "Just try to keep up. I'm not going to pause and wait for you Insecticons to catch up." And with that, he took a running start, hopped into the air, and transformed, flying through the treetops to reach the open skies.

A small snicker came from Shrapnel, but Bombshell didn't pause to do the same. "Come brothers. Our prize awaits." The three Insecticons proceeded to transform and take to the skies, having no trouble keeping up with Starscream.

The trip was a lengthy one, but it didn't take too long to reach North America. Starscream finally came to circle overhead a ravine. "What you are seeking is within here. Again, it is nothing but a husk without a bot to control it."

The brothers hovered in the air nearby the Seeker, two of them glancing to their lead. "I see," the rhinoceros beetle commented, staring down at the giant crack in the ground. "I thank you, Starscream. This is more helpful than you know. Is there anything we should know about this place?"

The fighter jet snorted. "It is not riddled with traps or perilous climbs, if that's what you mean. Well, it would be perilous for mudsloggers, but those blessed with wings should be fine."

"Very good." The lead Insecticon descended and transformed, coming to a land at the top of the ravine. "Just to be clear, if was down here he fell, correct?"

"Yes. Are we done here?"

"Yes, we are. Again, I thank you. Shrapnel, inspect the ravine."

With a huff, Starscream flew away, leaving the Insecticons to their devices. Bombshell wasn't sure if it was more amusing or pitiful that the Second-in-Command of the Decepticon army was this easy to manipulate.

Shrapnel wasted no time and dived to look over the rock faces and bottom, scanning for Prime-looking pieces. He stopped his search upon finding a massive heap of them, and returned to his brethren. "The prize is found! Found! Follow me. Me."

The prize was found, all right. And just like Starscream said, it was a wreck. "My, this is a bigger mess than I thought. But not unmanageable."

Shrapnel was glancing back and forth from the ruined puppet to his brother, looking very eager. "We will use this to make the Autobot's condition worse? Worse?" He asked.

"Worse... in a way," Bombshell confirmed. "The goal here is to make the Yellow One's response to his fear change. He fled when he encountered his fear in our exercise. The goal is to make it so he fights his fear next time he encounters it. However, the results won't be immediate. It will take time, and some of his... personal obstacles... must be removed. But first, we must rebuild the clone." He raised his servos. "Join me, my brothers."

Once the Insecticons were all circled around the clone, they all emitted a strange radiation from their servos. When the process was complete, a full version of Optimus Prime stood before them.

Bombshell gave it a small inspection before giving it the okay. "Now, one last detail." He walked around to the back of the clone, then placed a cerebro-dart on the back of its neck. "There. All is in place. Let us go home. We will leave the clone here. Better to not have it roaming about."

"Will we be back for it? It?"

"No. It remains here. In a future exercise, we may have the Yellow One... take out his frustration on it. It would be pointless to leave a mess--or rather _more_ of a mess--back at home."

Satisfied with their work and pleased with the direction this agreement between Bombshell and Bumblebee was going, the Insecticons took to the skies once more to return to their swamplands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a while to come out, I know, but the roleplay is a slow-going one while we balance life. Should be worth the wait, though, yeah?
> 
> Lots of trickery going on in this one. We also needed daddy-son time between Optimus and Bee. This was never an option. It was always mandatory.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know how you guys are liking it so far. I do respond to comments and enjoy seeing your thoughts.


	3. The Courage to Ask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bee seeks advice from Ironhide and Prime, and gets in a little shouting match with... no one.

Bumblebee returned home, a shard of pain from being electrocuted still lingering around. Once the Ark was within sight, he stopped and shook himself out, then thought back on the session he just had. Bombshell had said it was to make the problem more noticeable. What was noticeable about the problem? Well, he had been shaking in his plating. That was a problem. He needed to be braver. To not show fear in the face of looming danger. If Prime actually did ever have an issue in the future, he needed to not freeze up and take action instead. Bee needed to be like... like Ironhide. Yeah, he was the perfect bot to ask advice for about this sort of thing!

Perking up at the new lead he provided himself, Bee entered the Ark and searched around for Ironhide. He found the old soldier in the medbay, seriously busted up and getting repaired by Ratchet.

"Yow!" Ironhide complained. "Watch it there, doc."

Ratchet threw him a small dirty look. "Well, don't say things like that when I've got a scalpel in my servo."

Bumblebee approached the two. "Ironhide! Have you got a minute?"

The older bot turned his head to look at him. "Well, I may be able to--"

"Yip-yip-yip!" Ratchet interrupted, pausing his work. "Ironhide is in no condition to be moving around. I am doing delicate work here. Do you not see the scalpel?" The medibot waved it around a bit for them to see.

"Aw, come on, doc. I think Bee and I could talk for a bit. It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"You'd better not. Otherwise," Ratchet paused and pointed the scalpel at his patient. "I will stab you in the leg with this."

Ironhide redirected his attention to the minibot, ignoring Ratchet's threat. "What's up, li'l buddy?"

Bumblebee couldn't help laughing a little at the interaction between the two. "Got in another scuffle?" he asked.

"Yeah, but it wasn't that bad," the older bot admitted nonchalantly.

Cynicism dripped from Ratchet's mouth as he added in, "Yes, taking _eight_ sonic booms from Thundercracker isn't that bad... It's _downright LETHAL!!_ "

"Naw, he looked worse by the end of it."

Bee chuckled and beamed up at Ironhide. Good ol' Ironhide. They could always count on him to jump into a fight head first."Man, you're so brave in the face of mortal danger, Ironhide. That's actually what I wanted to ask you. How do you stay brave even knowing you're going to get a serious beating out of a fight?"

The older soldier frowned. "Huh, that is... a good question."

"Blame his stupid habits," the medibot grumbled.

The red bot shook his head. "Naw. I mean, that may be a part of it, but what I think, is that I know that everything will turn out okay, no matter how bad it looks."

"Yes, even when you try to kill yourself, everything will be fine. Great thought process, Ironhide." Ratchet quipped.

This didn't quite make sense to the yellow bot. "So just... don't think about what could happen and focus on getting out of the situation?" he guessed.

The medibot grumbled. " _Way_ too many of you do that."

"Well, I kinda think about it, li'l buddy," the redneck clarified. "If I didn't, I probably wouldn't even be here to tell you about it. I just don't worry about how things are going to turn out because... because I know they turn out okay. Does that make sense?"

Ratchet shot him a look that accused his patient of being a bad influence. "...No."

Yeah, Bumblebee was lost at this point. He stared at Ironhide with a perplexed expression and tried to decipher what he meant. Eventually he gave up. "I... don't follow," he admitted.

It was Ironhide's turn to give up because he responded with, "You know what, why don't you ask Prime? He would be able to answer that question."

"Yes. Please do," Ratchet snipped. "You're making my patient squirm due to too much thought."

Ironhide shot him an irritated look. "Okay, you know what--" He cut off as he reached over and snatched the scalpel from Ratchet's hand, then jumped off the table and rushed past Bee, running straight out of the room.

Ratchet shouted angrily and gave chase. "Ironhide, I need that!! And YOU need to come BACK HERE!!"

Bumblebee burst into laughter as he watched them run off, then took a breath to calm down so he could contemplate the suggestion. Prime _did_ say to come to him if the minibot had anything he needed to talk about. Bee took a deep breath and steeled himself, doing what he could to not think about the event that took place earlier in his therapy session. The image Bombshell planted in his mind. Once he shoved it to the side, he went to find Optimus.

He found his leader in the main control room with Teletrann-1’s terminal. He was in the middle of discussing something the minibot couldn't make out with Jazz and Prowl. Bee paused and wondered if this was a good time to bother them, but slowly approached them anyway.

When Jazz took notice of his movements, the second-in-command flashed him a grin. "Hey, li'l buddy! How's it kickin'?"

"Going good," he replied. "I wanted to ask Prime something. Is this a bad time?"

Prowl frowned, but Optimus shook his head. "No, Bumblebee. We were just going over a few things. Is there something you need?"

There was no subtle way to approach the matter, so he decided to just say what was on his mind outright. "How do you stay brave in the face of danger?"

Jazz seemed taken aback by the question. "Where's this comin' from? You've seen your fair share of fights against the 'Cons and seemed to handle them just fine," he pointed out.

"Well... Yeah," Bee admitted, "but I'm having problems working up the mental strength to be ready for if... say... someone as big as Megatron started trying to fight me one-on-one."

Optimus knelt down to put himself closer to Bee's level and looked into the scout's optics. The expression that emerged in the leader's optics clued Bee to the fact that he had an inkling he knew what the minibot was really talking about. He hummed and shifted his gaze to the floor for a moment to think, but looked back into Bumblebee's optics once he was ready to speak. "I... don't think that there is one way to be brave in the face of danger. There isn't really a magic answer for that. I think the bigger question that you need to ask yourself is: why do you stay brave in the face of dangerous situations? And, depending on who you ask, you'll get different answers. I feel that once you get the why out of the way, the how becomes much easier to answer." He gently added, "Why do you stay brave in a firefight, Bumblebee?"

The minibot stared up at him thoughtfully and went through his spark to find his reason. "Because... I believe in the Autobot cause and furthering your dream of universal peace."

"Remember that, Bumblebee. Also remember that why you stay brave may change. And that's okay," Optimus assured. "It makes us stronger in a way, and in some ways, makes us into something more than we could ever dream of." Prime glanced at Prowl and Jazz for a moment, then turned his attention back to Bumblebee and lowered his voice a tad. "Are you doing okay since last week? I know you have recently been off of your break, and I don't want you overdoing yourself."

The smile that spread across Bumblebee's faceplate was warm and genuine, moved by the concern coming from his inspiration. "Don't worry, Prime. I'm ready to get back to business as usual."

Optimus Prime gave him a nod. "Good. Is there anything else we can do for you, Bumblebee?"

"No. That was it. Thank you, Optimus."

"Okay." The Autobot leader rose to his feet again. "If you need anything, please let me know."

"You'll hear from me if I do," Bee reassured him before turning to the others, shooting them a smile and waving, then walking away.

Optimus turned back to Jazz and Prowl and the meeting continued.

"Alright, said Prowl briskly, "if that's out of the way, there is a matter of the missing energon that I've noticed missing from our confiscation pile."

"Missing energon? How much are we talkin'?" Jazz asked.

"Currently, I've counted five cubes so far. I'm narrowing down suspects, but don't have any leads so far as to who has taken them," Prowl replied.

Jazz knew better than to think Prowl didn't have anyone specific in mind. The cop car was ridiculously good at tracking down causes of anomalies within the base. "Who d'you think's doing it so far?" He pressed.

Prowl huffed. "Well that's just it. Since I don't have any leads, I have to begin at the usual suspects." He counted off each name listed on his digits. "Sideswipe, Mirage, Cliffjumper. Factoring in the fact that Teletran 1 doesn't have any footage of who did it or where they went, I'm guessing Wheeljack, Hoist, Grapple, or someone who has some computer capability. Until I find something to narrow down someone, like a footprint or some tire treads, I'm at a loss so far."

"Hm... Interesting." Optimus commented. "I've also heard Wheeljack say something about missing equipment and tools. Do you think that's connected somehow?"

"Possibly, but I don't have anything linking the two together so far."

Jazz cleared his throat, feeling a bit sheepish to what he was about to admit. "Uh, actually Wheeljack's stuff is unrelated, I'm pretty sure," he mumbled. "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, an' I were all having a bit of fun with him."

Prime pinched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, looking exasperated. "In what way... are you 'having fun with him'?"

"C'mon, Prime, loosen up. It's all harmless fun. We were just lookin' to hide his stuff from him for a while, that's all."

Prowl shot Jazz a scowl. "You do realize that Wheeljack was working on some special projects, right?" He snapped. "And I'm not talking about one of his more whacky projects like the cyber-corrupter."

This was news to Jazz. "No. What 'special projects' has he been takin' a crack at?"

And of course, leave it to Prowl to be a snob. "Well, since you and your two _lunkheads_ thought it was a good idea to take his stuff," he pointed a finger straight in Jazz's face, "I don't think you have a **right** to know."

Jazz rolled his optics underneath his visor. "You've got a _serious_ stick up your tailpipe, you know that?" he replied calmly.

Prowl opened his mouth to spit out something in return, but Optimus butted into the back and forth. "Both of you, **stop it**." He paused and waited for the two of them to separate and turn back to him then settle their attitudes a bit before he continued. "Jazz, see if you can convince everyone involved to give back the tools and equipment to Wheeljack. If they don't, there will be _serious_ consequences. Prowl, continue your investigation on the missing energon."

"Yes sir." Prowl turned his head a little to look over at Jazz and whispered with irritation, "This isn't over. You and I will have a talk later."

Jazz sighed and folded his arms, letting his head hang to the side with exasperation. "I look forward to it..." he muttered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another week passed and once more Bumblebee returned to the swamps with four energon cubes. He set them down in the water when he reached the usual spot. "Bombshell?" He called out.

To his surprise, instead of Bombshell coming out to greet him and collect the fee, it was Kickback and Shrapnel. The grasshopper immediately picked up the deposited cubes and said, "Bombshell not here. Bombshell waits for you."

Bumblebee blinked. "Waits for me?" He repeated. "Where?"

Kickback pointed in a direction. "Five miles that way, highest ridge. He waits."

"Uh... Okay?" What were they doing today that involved 'highest ridges'?

"Do not keep him waiting long. Long." Shrapnel advised.

The two Insecticons received a weird look before the minibot headed in the direction they pointed out. When he arrived on the scene, he scanned the ridges for the rhinoceros beetle.

Bombshell was, as promised, standing upon the highest ridge, his hands clasped behind his back as he waited patiently. "Ah, good. You made it."

"Yeah. Much as I prefer somewhere with more light, I have to ask. What's with the change of scenery?"

Bombshell raised an index digit in acknowledgement then lowered it again. "I'm glad you asked. After last session, I thought we could take a much different approach to facing your fears. A more private place, so that you can yell at anyone you wish, without being heard."

Bee tilted his head slightly with curiosity. "What are we doing that I would want to shout at someone?" He asked.

"View it as more of a way to relieve stress. Allow me to demonstrate." The Insecticon walked toward the edge of the cliff and stopped, facing the direction of the swamp. He then suddenly burst out into a shout. "KICKBACK, YOU FILTHY MUDHOPPER!! IF YOU FOCUSED MORE ON HELPING OUT YOUR FELLOW BROTHERS INSTEAD OF FILLING YOUR OWN MOUTH, YOU WOULD BE TEN TIMES THE INSECTICON YOU ARE NOW!!" He stopped and took a minute to regain his breath, then turned back toward Bumblebee. "It may seem bizarre at first, but I feel that it will help you in your recovery."

The minibot stared at his therapist with mild fascination for a moment, then turned to the direction Bombshell shouted at and began to think about what he wanted to shout. Who was he frustrated with? Well, related to the problem, he supposed it would be... Bumblebee took a deep breath, then clenched his fists as he shouted, "Bumblebee, you COWARD!! Get your act together and get it through your thick plating that Optimus Prime is the greatest bot that ever lived and isn't someone to be scared of!!"

"Good, good. Another," the beetle encouraged. "It doesn't have to be yourself."

Bee glanced back at him. "Can it be anything I'm frustrated with? Or does it have to be related to the problem?"

"Truthfully? It can be about anything. But if you want to see better results, focusing on the problem would be better."

"Alright." The Autobot suddenly recalled who else had a hand in the current problem and turned back to stare over the treetops covering the swamps. "Megatron, when I get my servos on you, you're in for it!! This whole situation is YOUR FAULT!! I shouldn't be afraid to be around the bot who's like a father to me!! I won't rest until the stupid war you started ends with you offline and your body torn to SHREDS!!"

"Louder."

Bumblebee raised his arms a tad as he got further into the shouting, his body heating up with anger. "I'M GOING TO PUT YOU OFFLINE MYSELF!! EVEN IF IT MEANS HUNTING YOU DOWN IF YOU RUN AND HIDE LIKE THE RETRO-RAT YOU ARE!!" When he was done, he panted. That's right. All of this. This was Megatron's doing. He deserved everything that would be coming to him later in life.

Bee's therapist stared at him quietly for a moment before he spoke up. "You know..." he started, then paused and seemed to think better of it. "Actually, never mind. It's just a random thought I had. You... probably wouldn't be interested."

The minibot took the bait and whipped around to face him. "No, what? Tell me!"

"Well," he started tentatively, "if you think about it, this whole problem isn't all Megatron's fault. If anything, your precious Prime has a hand in a lot of it as well."

That was obviously a lie and the mere accusation left Bee aghast. "Wh-What?! No he didn't! The personality malfunction wasn't his fault!"

"Wasn't it?" Bombshell asked skeptically. "Name one time where Optimus and Megatron were in the same place and the situation did _not_ escalate into uncontrollable levels."

"But that's because of Megatron's schemes! Optimus fights for peace!" Bumblebee insisted.

"Name one."

Bee paused and did a double take. "What?"

Bombshell repeated himself patiently. "Name one situation where Optimus and Megatron were in the same place and the situation remained calm."

The Autobot took a moment to think this over. "W...W-Well none," he admitted reluctantly, "but it's not like he has a choice! If he didn't defend himself and us, Megatron wouldn't hesitate to put everyone offline!"

"And if you think about it, he very much does have a choice!" The Insecticon countered. "How many opportunities has Prime had where if he pulled the trigger, or made the final swing, Megatron would be no more?"

Bumblebee stared straight into Bombshell's optics and remained silent. A small knot formed in his spark as he knew the correct answer all too well. He eventually broke optic-contact with the Insecticon and shifted his gaze to the ground.

Bombshell continued. "I believe the human saying is: it takes two to tango... whatever a tango is. But you must admit, Megatron wouldn't be who he is without Optimus, and Optimus wouldn't be who he is without Megatron. It is clear that both of them love the smell of battle, if you compare the two."

"That's... He's not like Megatron..." Bumblebee muttered softly, trying to push the doubts out of his processor. He returned his gaze to Bombshell. "You won't see Optimus plotting horrid traps for the Decepticons to-- to take advantage of their minds o-or anything like that! He wants to believe the Decepticons can still be reasoned with!"

"Oh come now, Yellow One," his therapist scoffed. "Has that ever worked?"

"W...Well you haven't tried to put me offline yet, so... not all Decepticons can be so bad... I hope..." Bee argued weakly.

Bombshell gave him a small nod of acknowledgement. "True. True. But we have an agreement that we both benefit from. Whereas Optimus and Megatron do not compromise with each other, and many of their colleagues follow their lead sometimes, which benefits no one in the end." He shrugged. "But I digress. We need to get back to your exercise."

The Autobot slowly turned back to the shouting space and stared out at the scenery. Much as he hated the seed Bombshell planted, he had to admit the Insecticon had some fair points. Optimus has had many times to end Megatron, but never once acted on it. He could have put the tyrant offline ages ago, then the recruited what Decepticons he could and dealt with the rest of them as he saw fit. But he didn't... "...Why, Optimus Prime...?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy howdy, I need to not let projects build up over time. I've got a lot more text to transfer over for you guys now. But you'll just have to settle for this chapter until I can get everything else pulled.
> 
> Everything's coming along... nicely and horribly? Depends who you ask. My boyfriend is really going to town with Bombshell and I can't wait to show you all just how nasty the little Insecticon is getting. >:)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please do leave thoughts and opinions! Critiques are welcome, just don't be a jerk about it.


	4. Horrible Interruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bumblebee doesn't get to go home quite yet.

Time passed faster than the two expected and before Bee could process the time shift, Bombshell announced the session as done with an, "Ah, it is time for us to part. Meet us at the swamp next week."

Bumblebee took a moment to catch his breath, then gave the rhinoceros beetle a couple nods. "See you then," he agreed, beginning his trek back to the Ark. Bombshell was right... and a little wrong. He did feel better in some aspects. But the idea that Optimus actually enjoyed fighting and keeping this war going weighed heavily on his mind now. That couldn't be right. It just couldn't. But... in a way, it made sense. It explained a good deal.

The minibot shook his head and focused on traversing the swamp he'd been mindlessly meandering through. No. No assumptions. He'd clear this all up with Prime once he got back.

"YELLOW ONE! Yellow One, help!"

Bee blinked and stopped mid-step to turn and see the shrieking Bombshell chasing after him, an arm raised out of desperation. "Bombshell?"

Once the Insecticon caught up, he leaned forward to rest his hands on his knees and panted. "Just got word... [pant] from home...! [pant] My brother... [pant] injured...!" He paused to suck in several deep breaths before straightening up and continuing. "Kickback attacked Shrapnel. I can't handle him on my own, _especially_ in his agitated state. I... _WE_... need your help."

The minibot widened his optics a little with shock. What on earth caused such a dramatic turn while they were away from the other two Insecticons? There was no time to dwell on that at the moment, though. Bombshell needed help and what sort of Autobot would he be if he declined? "Well, what are we standing around for? We should hurry!"

"Good, then follow me. I know the way to our nest." Bombshell promptly converted into his beetle form, then took off further into the swamp, Bee running after him. The minibot almost lost him once or twice, but soon enough they reached the Decepticon escape pod the Insecticons called their home. It looked thoroughly trashed. Debris in the form of chunks of metal lay scattered in a layer of water that had flowed in through holes in the walls. Bombshell let his gaze slowly wander over the scene, mortified. "No..." he whispered. "No..." He gasped as his line of vision landed on Shrapnel.

The Insecticon looked much worse for wear. His upper half had been forcibly separated from his lower. Once Bumblebee's astonishment wore off, he couldn't help grimacing as the thought occurred to him that all the debris were actually pieces of Shrapnel. He rushed over with Bombshell to get a better look at his condition. Shrapnel's optic lights were faint and flickering. He was barely hanging on.

Bombshell placed a panicked servo on Shrapnel's shoulder. "Shrapnel! It's going to be okay, brother! We can get you help!"

Shrapnel gritted his teeth and turned his head slightly to look up into Bombshell's optics. "Bomb...shell... shell..." he uttered weakly. "I tried... to bring him... to his senses... senses... What... is _wrong..._ with him...? Him...?"

"I... I know not. But we can fix him. However, you must know... if he resists... then..." At the moment of his hesitation, the sound of trees splintering and falling in the distance grabbed his attention, making him glance over his shoulder briefly. "Stay online, brother." Bombshell got to his feet again and turned to Bumblebee. "We must find him, Yellow One. Be careful."

Bumblebee didn't much like the idea of looking around for a bot who could do this type of damage, but he nodded and pulled out his blaster. "I'll try not to hurt him much. I will defend myself, though." He proceeded to leave the nest and run in the direction the downed trees sounded from.

Bombshell threw another glance down at his mortally wounded brother beforehe followed Bumblebee out, also readying his own firearm. "Okay, Yellow One, what do you know about Kickback?"

"I know that his kicks are a force to be reckoned with alone and he's temperamental," the Autobot replied. "Not much past that."

"Good. It is true that his legs are powerful. He will most likely be in his alt mode. He also gets tremendous amounts of speed from that mode as well. So he mostly relies on what the humans call 'hit and run' tactics. Although since he is in his... Oh, what's the word." He paused and snapped his fingers three times as he wracked his mind for the word he was looking for. He soon found it. " _Berserker_ state--that's the word--I don't know for sure what he's going to do."

At that moment, Kickback bursted forth from the shadows with a war cry and gave Bombshell a fierce kick that sent the rhinoceros beetle through several trees before taking off into the swamp again. It all happened so fast, Bumblebee nearly missed seeing Kickback's retreating figure.

He dashed over to Bombshell and extended a servo to help him up. "Are you okay?" He checked.

The Insecticon had already gotten up and shaken himself off from the kick to regain his senses. He looked up when Bee came into view. "I'm... okay." He shifted his gaze to look into his now empty servo. "I lost my blaster, though. We may have to rely upon yours."

"That's unfortunate," Bee commented, feeling a bit unsure of his ability to keep them safe, "but I'm sure we can make do." That's right. After all, Bombshell almost always had some sort of trick up his plating. He was remarkably resourceful when he wanted to be.

Bombshell looked around the swamp surrounding them, the sound of more falling trees filling the silence. "We may have to..." He muttered. "Follow the fallen trees. It's the best lead we have. I will say, this is a bit worse than I thought..."

The minibot acknowledged the guidance, then took off down the trail of ~~breadcrumbs~~ trees that Kickback had left in his wake. Speaking of resourceful, a thought occurred to Bumblebee and he proceeded to call back to Bombshell as they went. "Hey, Bombshell? Can't you control him the same way you did when I brought you the downpayment?"

The Insecticon caught sight of his lost gun while Bumblebee voiced his question. He hurriedly checked to make sure the Autobot wasn't looking, then nudged it further into the swamp water as he passed. "I'm not too sure," he replied. "My cerebro-shells don't work the best on pure emotion and strong wills. I tried one on a warrior named Razerclaw once, but his responses were sluggish, like he was actively resisting the shell. Eventually he broke out and was not too pleased with me. With pure emotional outbursts like what Kickback is doing, I have no idea what the results will be. If he was more relaxed, maybe."

"Oh well. The old fashioned way it is."

"Old fashioned may be the only way we have left, Yellow One," Bombshell agreed, then added with a grim tone, "And given the severity of the problem... we may need to... offline Kickback."

The suggestion surprised Bee. He turned his head to look back at him. "Are you sure? He's your brother. Maybe we could just knock him out."

"I have learned many things in life, Yellow One. One of those things is to let go of things you once cared about when they turn against you. Kickback may be a brother, but this isn't his first outburst. And he's already taken my brother apart. Unless we take him offline, this cycle will start all over again."

Something about that made Bumblebee uncomfortable. Maybe it was the notion of putting a bot down? He mumbled, "It's just... if this were my brother Cliffjumper, there's no way I'd want to consider putting him offline as an option."

"And offlining those on the other side of the battlefield is any different?" Bombshell accused suddenly, catching the minibot by surprise. "All those Decepticons that you've sent to oblivion didn't have a personality of their own? Rather hypocritical of you to say."

In the millions and millions of years he'd spent in the war, Bee had only offlined a few Decepticons, and that had been out of self-defense. His life or theirs. He didn't know their names, but could still remember what happened clear as crystal. He didn't think he'd ever be able to forget. The Autobot struggled to find his words. "That's... Th-That's not... I'm not saying that." He swallowed and turned his head to face forward again. "They _chose_ to fight for an evil path. If they didn't want to die for that cause, then they shouldn't have picked a side."

The Insecticon narrowed his optics slightly. "Do you even know what the Decepticons are fighting for, Yellow One?" He sneered. "Or has years of Autobot conditioning brainwashed you?"

"I'm not brainwashed!" Bee yelped indignantly. "They're fighting for universal domination!" That much was obvious. After all, Megatron had certainly shouted it enough.

" _And yet_..." Bombshell spoke with a raised voice to emphasize those two words before lowering it and continuing. "You misunderstand. What has your beloved Optimus Prime said? Freedom is the right of all sentient beings, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"We, the entire Cybertronian race, are sentient beings, right?"

"Of course."

"Then organics have no right to treat us Cybertronians as slaves, then. If we happen to follow that path of logic. Megatron once asked Soundwave to see into his spark, to see what Megatron really wanted." There was a pause. "Do you know what Soundwave said was in there?"

Bumblebee was silent for a moment. "What did he see?"

"Equality," the Insecticon stated simply. He let that sink in for a brief time before he expanded on it. "Megatron wanted all to be equal. Before the war, Megatron saw how other Cybertronians treated each other. Brother against brother, because of how one was different from the other. Whether they were forged or constructed cold, functionist or not, monoformer or transformer. So Megatron began a movement to change it. And I will say that he was not the one to fire the first shot, but Optimus' predecessor before his. Sentinel Prime.

"Sentinel and the senate wanted to stop change, so they tried. When they were overthrown, Megatron began to see that not only were Cybertronians oppressing themselves, but organics of other planets were oppressive to us as well. They had shut us out of governments so our voices could not be heard, put us into their labor mines with no rest, and so on and so forth. Enraged, Megatron sought to change this, too... but then the war happened." Bombshell paused once more, then concluded, "In short, Yellow One, the Decepticons were tired of waiting for something to change."

Bumblebee paused in the midst of the explanation and had turned to stare at Bombshell with astonishment and a hint of denial. He felt his spark churn from the new information that was just fed to him, his mind swirling with freshly formed doubts. "That... can't be right... Megatron's always ever fought for control..." He whispered. "Hasn't he...?"

Bombshell's gaze solidly pierced Bumblebee's. "When this is over, you should ask your beloved Prime about this. See what he says."

The Autobot had no choice. If he was ever going to settle these doubts, there was no other way. Bee forced himself back into the present. Right now, they needed to find Kickback and stop him. Kickback first, Prime later. "I will. For now, though... Your brother." He resumed following the grasshopper's path of destruction. "If you think we should offline him, then... I guess that's the route we'll have to go. But only once we've exhausted our other options."

"Very well. Your are an..." the Insecticon trailed off and snapped his fingers thrice again. " _Honorable_ Cybertronian, Yellow One."

Kickback suddenly bursted forth from the swamp again, shrieking in a fit of rage as he leapt for Bee.

The Autobot dashed to the side, narrowly dodging the rampaging Insecticon, then fired several rounds at him.

Kickback tanked the shots and, having spotted Bombshell, changed course to leap over him, then gave him a strong kick to the back, sending the rhinoceros beetle tumbling a ways before finally skidding to a halt on his face and chest. The grasshopper once again turned to Bee and charged for him.

Bombshell lifted his head from the water to find a very sharp stick not far from him. He snatched it up and shifted to look at his Autobot client. "Yellow One! Aim for his wing and leg joints!"

"Got it!" Rather than dodging, Bumblebee stood his ground and fired at the spots he'd been instructed to. His sharpshooting was met with a screech of pain from Kickback as he lost one of his wings, causing him to dive off course and crash into the swamp below and spraying up water as he skidded to a halt not far from Bombshell.

His brother swiftly took advantage of the opportunity and jammed the sharp stick into one of Kickback's legs, disabling him even further. He pushed himself to his feet--not even wincing at Kickback's screams of pain--while maintaining a hold on the stick.

Bumblebee grimaced at the sounds the enraged Insecticon was making, but shot at his legs joints a few more times. "Tell me there's a way to get him to calm down from this fit!"

Bombshell shoved the stick further down into the swamp to pin the leg it was through and keep Kickback from going anywhere, then he took a step back. "I... I don't know. I haven't seen him react this way before."

"KILL YOU!! KICKBACK WILL KILL YOU!!" The grasshopper caterwauled, his screaming and yelling eventually becoming unintelligable.

"Let me just..." Bombshell maneuvered around one of the free and violently thrashing legs and made his way to his brother's head. He knelt down and peered into his optics. "Oh... That's... I see..." He murmured.

The Autobot lowered his blaster slightly, but stayed ready to act. "What is it? Did you find out what's causing this?"

"It's... We..." The rhinoceros beetle averted his gaze, not looking at either Kickback or Bumblebee. "Kickback needs to be put down."

Bee _really_ wished Bombshell hadn't said that. He opened his mouth to question him and make certain he was absolutely _sure_ this was the right course of action, but then paused and closed it again as he recalled his promise made to him. Of course Bombshell was certain. That's why he was telling Bumblebee to do this. The minibot steeled himself and raised his blaster again to take careful aim at Kickback's head. "Alright..."

The sane Insecticon jumped when Bee pulled the trigger and put Kickback out of his misery, and proceeded to turn to stare at him with shock. Slowly he looked back down at Kickback. "Goodbye, brother." He got up as Bee tucked away his blaster and shifted to face him. "Tell me, Yellow One. You didn't hesitate. Why?"

Bumblebee met his gaze. "Because we already discussed our options and I promised that if you thought it was the right thing to do for your family, then... I'd respect your decision. You wouldn't have told me to unless you were sure there was absolutely no other way."

"Yellow One, I have no family now. Knowing you Autobots, I figured I would have to explain my reasoning before you would pull the trigger. But," he looked down at Kickback's unmoving body again, "there really was no other way."

Bee's expression shifted to one of sympathy. "Was Shrapnel too damaged to repair...? Can't we get him help...?"

"He was ripped in half. Barely functioning. How long do you truly think he had?"

"I was... trying to stay hopeful..." The Autobot sighed and followed Bombshell's gaze. "I'm sorry, Bombshell..."

The rhinoceros beetle appeared to struggle to find his words. "It's... It's... It's the life of a Cybertronian. Kickback and Shrapnel would have wanted to go out fighting."

That Bee could understand, but... fighting each _other?_ He dared not voice this. That was an absolutely inappropriate thought at the moment and he wasn't about to be rude. He gave Bombshell a few minutes of quiet to mourn before he spoke up again. "What are you going to do from here on?"

"Well... I plan on moving on." The Insecticon turned to him. "Maybe put my brothers in a grave or something. But what about you? Do you still plan on meeting to deal with your... problem?"

"I don't want to impose, but I could still use the help if you're fine with providing it."

"Yes, I am willing. It will keep me distracted from today's events. We will have to change our meeting place, though. I forgot to mention that when you were leaving earlier."

"That's understandable," the Autobot agreed. "Where do you want to meet from here on?"

"Ah. Here." Bombshell reached an arm around to rifle through a subspace in his back and pulled out a map. He moved over to stand beside Bumblebee and opened it up. "I managed to get my servos on one of these. The location that we will meet at will be here." He pointed to a spot on the map. "You may recognize the place."

Bee had to crane his neck a bit to get a good look at what Bombshell was pointing to, but it was as he said. "Oh, over there. Alright. Next week?"

"Yes. I look forward to our sessions."

The Autobot nodded. "Take care, Bombshell. If you need anything, I'll see what I can do."

Bombshell returned the nod and moved to take care of Kickback's corpse. "You take care as well, Yellow One." He pretended to keep busy until he was sure Bumblebee was out of sight and audial shot, then he stopped and dropped everything. "Brothers, take care of your clones, please."

Shrapnel and Kickback came out of hiding, snickering and cackling as they made their clones disappear.

"So _foolish_ the little one is~ Is~" Shrapnel grinned. "He deems you an ally he can trust! Trust!"

Bombshell smirked underneath his mask. "Yes, it is fortunate. And Kickback?"

Kickback's antennae perked up upon being addressed. "Hm?"

"Good job taking that virus from Starscream when he tried to use it on Megatron. Very good thinking," the rhinoceros beetle praised, making the grasshopper smile and twitch his wings with pride.

"I want to play more games! Games!" Shrapnel exclaimed enthusiastically. "The Yellow One is such fun! Fun!"

"There is... _one_ last game we could play..." Bombshell replied thoughtfully. "But only if we truly want to torture him. We will wait for that one. In the meantime, both of you will stay here. Understood?"

The stag beetle pouted, clearly disappointed with this decision. "Slag... Slag... As Bombshell wishes. Wishes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, good news is: I'm alive, this story is done with its roleplay stage, and I'm now a little over halfway done transferring it.
> 
> The bad-ish news is: I'm slow at this and I still have so much to go through.
> 
> It will get done! This is going to get done, darn it! I'm not gonna leave a work like this incomplete!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts on the piece, I enjoy reading them.


	5. Origins Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bumblebee goes through an emotional rollercoaster of a day.

With a spark heavy laden with the events that occurred this session, Bumblebee returned to the Ark. His mind was stuck on the fact that he had to put Kickback down. Sure, he was the enemy, but under the basis that every bot deserved peace and freedom, Bee had been hoping he wouldn't have had to offline him. This officially marked his fourth kill. Oh no. Bee raised a servo to rest over his fuel tank and grimaced. Now that the adrenaline from the event had died down, just thinking about it made his fuel churn.

The screams, the carnage, the way he had flat out stripped Kickback of his life without a second thought. He had even forgotten to ask Bombshell for the reason behind his decision to end Kickback! Oh Primus, what had he done? Bumblebee stopped walking and covered his mouth with his free servo as he retched, energon threatening to come up. He shut his optics and took in shaky deep breaths, working to calm himself.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered, despite knowing the deceased Insecticon couldn't hear him. When he reopened his optics, a yellow mass suddenly entered his vision. The Ark. Had he really traveled that far in such a short amount of time? Then again, it was midday now. Back at the swamp it had been just after dawn. With a heavy and final breath, Bumblebee lowered his servos and finished his trek back to the Ark.

Not far into the base, Bumblebee encountered Prowl in one of the halls. The security officer stopped and looked up from his datapad when he spotted the minibot's paint job from his peripheral vision. He raised a servo to get Bee to stop as well. "Excuse me, Bumblebee?"

The minibot stopped and raised his gaze to meet his. "What's up, Prowl?"

"Are you busy with anything? Or do you have some time to answer a few questions?"

A knot formed in Bee's fuel tank. That didn't bode well. "No, I, uh... just became free, actually." He said, trying to keep what he hoped was a straight and innocent face. "What can I answer for you?"

"Well, Prime has asked me to run an investigation. You see, we have had an unordinary supply of energon cubes go missing from our stockpile. About four a week go missing," he explained, holding up four digits briefly. "I haven't been able to catch the culprit, but I've narrowed down some suspects. The suspects include: Windcharger, Gears, Brawn, Cliffjumper, Seaspray, and... you. Teletran One has been down and has a few glitches, but I've narrowed you six down because of residue footprints left behind the past couple of weeks. So, I believe my question is: Where have you been the past several weeks? I know you have been disappearing every now and then, but I just want to rule you out."

It took a great deal of restraint not to react the way his first instincts told him to. Don't show fear or Prowl will catch on. Panic would immediately give him away and he couldn't have that. Hold your expression and reply calmly. "Well," he started slowly, "I found out that taking drives through the mountain ranges and desert does wonders for my stress management. I've made it a habit to go out for those at least once a week."

Prowl looked down at his datapad and tapped away at it with one hand. "Okay. And I take it that you have been going alone on these drives, then? Or does anyone go with you?"

"It hadn't occurred to me to ask anyone to come along."

"I figured as much," the security officer grunted. "You wouldn't have any idea who would want all this energon for themselves, would you?"

"I really couldn't imagine _any_ of us would do something like this. It couldn't be a Decepticon sneaking in and working away at the pile bit by bit?" Bee suggested.

"Truth be told, I haven't narrowed that down, yet. That's why I want to rule any of us out before I work out which Decepticon is desperate enough to go through the trouble of sneaking in and out each week. But, I've said too much." Prowl returned his gaze to Bumblebee. "That is all I have. If I have anymore questions, I'll contact you."

Thank Primus... The interrogation was short.

"Good luck in your search, Prowl. If anyone can catch the culprit, it's you." It was unfortunate that sentence was all too true.

Prowl gave him a small nod. "I know. Take care, Bumblebee." With that, he walked away and redirected his attention to his datapad again, going over his collected notes thus far.

Bumblebee heaved a deep breath and muttered a small curse as he looked around. He could feel a small panic attack coming on and he'd rather _not_ have any witnesses. There was a supply closet nearby. That would do. He quickly ducked in, shut the door behind him, and moved to stand by the far back corner.

Prowl was investigating now. This was starting to turn into a bad situation. Bee **needed** these session. It really felt like they were helping! But if he got caught, he'd be labeled as a traitor for sure. He didn't even want to **think** about the consequences **that** would land him with. How in the heck was he going to get himself out of this situation?

While Bee was in the middle of his panic attack, the closet door suddenly swung open forcefully with a loud **BAM** followed by a, "AHA!! FOUND YOU!!" Which in turn caused Bumblebee to scream and flail his arms wildly before he regained his senses and turned toward the door to point at the intruder.

There stood Cliffjumper, looking gleefully pleased with himself for a moment before abruptly dropping the expression upon seeing his brother. "Oh... Hey, Bee... You're not what I'm looking for," he said with clear disappointment.

"Cliffjumper...!!" Bumblebee wheezed, moving the servo not pointing to clutch at his chestplate. "F-For the love of Primus...!! What the Pit is _wrong_ with you...?!"

Cliff was silent for a moment, then asked, "Have you seen Ratchet's digit-thingy in here?"

The yellow brother stared at him incredulously as he straightened up and lowered his arms to his sides. "Wh-- You're _still_ looking for that??" He gaped.

The red minibot donned a fully confused expression. "Ye...Yeah... My digit still hurts. Why?"

"It's been weeks! I thought you would have found it by now!" As an afterthought, he added, "What are you even doing shouting at a tool, anyway? You scared me half to death!"

"Well, my digit still hurts. I don't know if it has anything to do with me punching a rock a few months ago; Ratchet still hasn't told me. That and he hasn't found it yet, either. We both haven't. And you know how the old saying goes. If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself."

Bee sighed and walked over to his brother. This was ridiculous. "Cliff, let me see your servo."

"Umm... Which one?"

"The one with your hurting digit. You probably just jammed it."

The red minibot blinked. "Oh!" He looked down at his servos and curled and uncurled his digits a few times before figuring out which one to put forward. "By the way," he said casually as Bee carefully placed his left servo under the extended offering to brace it, "you are in a closet. Why are you in a closet?"

The yellow minibot gently took hold of the hurting digit with his free servo. "I was... uh... looking for something, too." He muttered, giving the digit a small tug.

Cliff stared down at the mess of servos for a moment, then looked up to meet Bee's optics. They shared a few seconds of silence before he broke it with, "What are you trying to do? I know Ratchet said he would fix it when I found the digit-thingy."

"If it's jammed, I was trying to pop the joints back into their proper spots," Bumblebee explained, raising Cliff's servo to get a better look at the supposedly pained digit.

"It's not really jammed," his brother admitted. "Here." He pulled his servo out of Bumblebee's grip. "It usually hurts when I do this." The motion the red minibot made with it was bizarre and unnatural to say the least. What the heck? They remained in silence, Bee watching with widened optics, while Cliff kept this up for a few minutes, then spoke up again. "See, now it hurts. Usually I can do this for multiple cycles, but ever since I punched that rock, I can't do it for as long. That's why I need that digit-thingy."

"Cliff, your servo and digits aren't supposed to bend that way!" The yellow brother exclaimed. "Don't do that!"

"But... But..."

"No buts! You're hurting yourself doing that!"

Cliffjumper grumbled. "Fine, but you're about as fun as Optimus right now."

This made Bumblebee frown. "What's wrong with Optimus?"

To say that the red minibot's sudden change in mood from pouty to grimly serious was concerning was an understatement. "Oh... Oh, you don't know," he murmured. "We just came back from a mission... Megatron wanted something in the Middle East and we went out to stop him. But Megatron didn't arrive to get what he wanted. Instead he sent his special operations force. He sent Razorclaw and his team. It was five on ten. I was sure we were going to win. It's bad, Bee. Optimus is helping Ratchet and Wheeljack get through repairs. I was lucky..."

Bumblebee felt a cold wave of horror crash into him. He stared at his brother with widened optics for a brief second before he bolted for the medbay to lend a helping servo. When he reached the room, frantic and panicked bots were bustling with activity. Ratchet, Hoist, and Wheeljack were all attending to the _many_ injured Autobots in the room. Even the Protectobots had appeared to have been called and were lending their help.

The carnage was incredible and almost nauseating. The Lambo Twins had several pieces of cracked and shattered plating, though Sideswipe looked the worse out of the two of them. He lay sparking in places on a table as First Aid tended to him, while Groove tended to Sunstreaker. Smokescreen, Tracks, and Bluestreak seemed to be the least injured and were resting on a few more tables, Hoist going back and forth between the three to mend their cut wiring and cracked plating. Jazz was on a table waiting to be worked on, but was repeatedly trying to get up and lend a helping servo, only to be stopped and scolded each time by Hotspot. Hound seemed to be just finishing getting patched up by Blades. The worst out of all of them was Ironhide, who had both Ratchet and Wheeljack working furiously to keep him stable. Blades and Hound exchanged brief words before the Protectobot moved on to assist the two medics with Ironhide.

Off to the side of all the chaos sat Prime with Mirage, the indie-car looking as if he were having a mental breakdown. He was shivering and hugging himself while staring with horrified optics at the floor, though he wasn't looking at anything in particular. Optimus had a comforting arm wrapped around him and was stroking Mirage's bicep with a thumb.

Bumblebee stared around the scene with mortification at all the damage that had been done while he'd been gone. He hurriedly snapped himself out of his stupor, though, and rushed over to his leader. "Optimus! What can I do to help?!"

Optimus redirected his attention to the minibot. "Bee, thank goodness you're here. Go talk to First Aid. He'll be able to guide you a little better than I would."

The yellow minibot dashed over to the Protectobot while Optimus turned his focus back to Mirage. "First Aid, I'm here to help! What do you need me to do?"

First Aid paused his work on Sideswipe to briefly look at him. "Ah, Bumblebee, long time no see," he greeted before returning to his work. "Honestly, Ratchet and Wheeljack are the ones that have to deal with the worst of it. Well, unless you count Mirage, which is why Optimus is tending to him." He threw a glance at the two bots in the corner. "Optimus truly is amazing. Mirage was about to loose it in a way that none of us have seen. Ever since Optimus started working with him, he's calmed down a lot." The bot gave Sideswipe's plating a look over before speaking up again. "Honestly, right now, just be ready for when one of us need anything."

Bumblebee turned his head to look back at Prime and Mirage over his shoulder. "...Yeah. Prime really is something." While the questions he had gained from Bombshell's latest session still lingered, there was no denying the fact that their leader worked tirelessly to provide for his team in whatever way he could. But... couldn't this have been avoided if Prime had just killed Megatron ages ago, though? The minibot winced at the thought and hurriedly chased it away again. He needed to focus on the here and now so he could be ready to help his team members. ...But he also needed to get out of the way of the medibots so they didn't trip over him. He scampered to the edge of the room and kept alert and attentive to the goings on around him, assisting whenever a Protectobot voiced a need.

After a while everything calmed down in the medbay and the Protectobots wrapped up their work, leaving the more manageable work for the Autobot medics to continue. Hotspot and Optimus moved to walk down the hall leading to the entrance to converse, exchanging words of gratitude and small talk. Bumblebee walked after them, but First Aid caught up and tapped his shoulder.

"So Bumblebee, it has been a while. Whatcha been up to?" He asked with what Bee assumed was a smile underneath his mask, easily keeping pace with the smaller bot next to him.

He tried to return the smile, but it didn't last very long. "I wish I could give you nothing but good news, First Aid, but..." He trailed off and hesitated before finishing. "It's actually been kind of stressful the past few weeks."

First Aid's disposition shifted to one of curious concern. "Really? Do you mind me asking what's up?"

Bumblebee sighed as he debated whether to spill his guts out to the Protectobot or keep it simple. This secret he'd been keeping was really starting to make him antsy and he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to stand keeping it, but at the same time... the fear of being called a traitor and being turned in to be punished made him feel ill again and won him over. He swallowed and tried to ignore the sick feeling in his fuel pump. "It's... a... sort of complicated... mess..." he started slowly. "One of the Decepticons' tricks wound up leaving a mental scar on me. I've been trying to recover from that."

A sympathetic expression crossed First Aid's faceplate. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Have you been talking to Prime about it? I'll tell you, he did amazing with Mirage. I would highly suggest that you talk to him if you aren't already."

The minibot managed a stronger smile than his first attempt. "I have been, actually. It's been helping quite a bit." He and First Aid turned their gazes to Hotspot as he raised his voice.

"Protectobots! We take our leave!"

"Awesome, Bumblebee. Keep at it. Well, I've gotta go. I'll catch you later." The Protectobot stuck out a servo to shake. "It was good talking to you, Bumblebee."

The minibot took it and gave it a shake, then stopped at the entrance beside Optimus. "You too, First Aid. 'Til next time."

Optimus and Bumblebee stood and watched as the Protectobots transformed and left the Ark, staying still and quiet until the group of combiners had faded into the distance. Prime was the first to break the silence.

"Ah, it's good to have the Protectobots around when we need them. They have really come a long way since they first came together."

"They sure have. They're a great team to have around," Bee agreed, shifting his gaze to look up at his leader. "Are you doing alright after all that, Prime?"

"I'm doing alright. I have a gash in my shoulder," he admitted, tilting his head to examine it. "Razorclaw is a fierce opponent with a sword, but I am alright. The only reason I'm out here instead of the medbay is because Ratchet and the others have enough on their hands. I'm more concerned for those in the medbay."

Bee grimaced with guilt. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here to help... I should have been..."

Prime shook his head. "No, Bumblebee, you were fine as you were. I personally selected the team for this mission. If I'd have known that Megatron would have sent Razorclaw and his men, I would have kept everyone here. I had no idea that they would be there. As you know, Teletrann 1 has been down still, so it's been difficult seeing which Decepticon is causing trouble."

"Have Hoist or Grapple or... anyone been able to figure out what's causing the issue?"

"Well, that was what Hoist was going to do today, but now he has his hands full in the medbay, so he won't be able to figure it out. And Grapple is an architect, not a technician. Computers are a little beyond him, though I'm sure he could figure it out if he set aside time to."

Bumblebee hummed thoughtfully and let his focus fall to the floor for a few moments before he returned it to Prime. "Optimus, could... Could I ask you a few things?" He checked tentatively.

Optimus looked down at the minibot. "Anything, Bumblebee."

He decided not to beat around the bush. "You've had a lot of chances to offline Megatron. Is there something keeping you from doing that?"

Despite having a mask on, the shock that appeared on Optimus' features was obvious. "I... That... That is an interesting question," he stammered. "Why do you ask?"

Panic washed over Bee for a moment and he backpedaled a bit. "I-I don't mean to step out of line, sir, it's just...! I've been thinking a lot recently about what this war would be like without Megatron. The Decepticons would be so busy fighting over who the next leader would be that I think we'd have an easier time putting them in a position to end the war."

Optimus Prime turned away from him and sighed, making Bee grow nervous, then he walked over to a nearby rock and sat down. He was quiet and staring off into space thoughtfully. Suddenly his mask receded into the sides of his helm, revealing the rest of his facial features as he turned his head to look at the minibot. "Sit with me, Bumblebee."

He blinked, but didn't dare keep Optimus waiting and walked over to have a seat beside him on the rock. He peered up at his leader as Optimus turned his gaze to the sky to watch the setting sun crawl along. The silence lasted a few minutes before the Autobot commander broke it with a quiet intake.

"I think... I think you're right," he began. "I have had a lot of chances to offline Megatron. A lot more than I think about. I think the reason why I don't is... is because..." There was a pause. "Because I want to help him return back to the Cybertronian he once was." A sad smile crept across Optimus' lips. "It's a hope I like to hold on to."

"'Once was'? Who was he before?" Bee questioned.

Prime chuckled a bit. "You know, it's been so long since I've talked about it. Way before the war was even a concept, let alone mentioned. And well before he was Megatron and I was Optimus Prime." The leader looked down at the minibot. "But... you deserve to know the truth."

Bumblebee didn't know whether to feel honored or... something else. Honored was probably the better, considering Optimus was taking the time to tell him instead of dismissing him outright. He shoved any thought processes to the side so he could give Prime his full attention.

"Once, I was a librarian. One of the few that were left. Data centers were becoming more and more autonomous and run by drones. Me and my partner, Magnitude, were lucky to have had that job for as long as we did. Magnitude was an excellent minicon. Very smart. He was actually the one that first coined the phrase that I have cherished the most. 'Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.' He spoke of ways to improve the Cybertronian leadership, through councils based on experience, and their connection to Primus, rather than elections. He suggested that the guardians and the titans would lead expeditions to unknown parts of the galaxy, making known that which was unknown. He knew that it wasn't a perfect way, but he said it would have been much better than the current leadership at the time, which was..." Optimus Prime paused and furrowed his optic ridges with thought. "Primus, it's been so long I can't even remember.

"Anyway, eventually we're replaced by drones in the library, so we go out looking for work. But Magnitude, he begins sharing his idea with others as well. It wouldn't matter where we were, he would just start talking about his idea for a better leadership and the style of government. He would share how they could help the people, through a fund of little resources on the people's end, it being pooled and spent wisely." He let his optics wander Bee's faceplate a moment and smiled when he stopped at his optics. "I hope this isn't too boring for you. I'm sorry if I ramble a bit."

Bumblebee returned his smile warmly and assured, "Not at all. It's actually pretty fascinating hearing about the days before the war."

"Well, it wasn't perfect, but it was peaceful, give or take some corruption in leadership or simply life on Cybertron being what it was." He turned his view back to the horizon. "Needless to say, we eventually get a following. As I learn more about the idea, I have some of my own. We begin bouncing ideas off of each other. We both then go out about sharing the idea of a new future. Some would reject it, sure, but that didn't stop us. Eventually, we became the iconic duo. 'Magnitude and Orion Pax, the leaders of the future!' That was what people would call us."

Eventually Prime's smile began to fade as he continued. "But... then something happened... I didn't think anything of it at first. Magnitude was approached by someone. I didn't recognize him, but he looked important. He wasn't in the leadership on pre-war Cybertron, but he commanded... I don't know... power, for lack of a better word. He invited Magnitude to come to a secret location and said that someone had taken great interest in his work and wanted to help him remake Cybertron.

"Magnitude agreed, but there was a condition. He was to go without me. I thought that was a bit curious, but Magnitude insisted that it would be okay. That was where it all started. Magnitude would come back after each meeting and I would ask him what happened. His answer was always the same. 'I'm sorry, but I can't tell you.' He would use that every time I would ask. Eventually I had to back him up against a wall to finally get him to let me _go_ with him to the next meeting."

His smile finally faded completely, replaced with a grim expression. "We go to the meeting. He is excited, telling me all about his new mentor that has 'opened his eyes to greater understanding, and has helped him understand how to bring his plan to life.' As well as other things similar to that."

Bumblebee remained reverently silent as he listened to Prime and Megatron's origin story, his processor working to picture the story as it was being told and putting himself in his leader's peds.

"It was there I really began to be suspicious. It was _there_ I met the strange Cybertronian again, but he wouldn't let me past. Only Magnitude was allowed to go into the chamber. I, of course, pleaded with Magnitude, but he insisted that I stay outside the chamber. And each session afterward was just the same. But I began to notice something--well--a couple things about Magnitude. After each session, I noticed his attitude had changed. Once he was cheery and outgoing, but after each session he became more... aggressive and distant. And the second thing I noticed about him--and I still can't believe I didn't notice it until a week after I started accompanying him to the sessions. I noticed that he was getting _bigger_.

"It was at that point that I demanded to go into the chamber with Magnitude. Of course the guard refused, so I used some... _aggressive negotiations_ with him. To this day, I regret succeeding in that fight. I entered the chamber and saw a monster." Optimus turned his gaze back down to Bee. "You know how you can look at someone and instantly know they are evil?"

The minibot nodded.

"Well, to put it briefly, Liege Maximo is the oldest Decepticon... the _first_ Decepticon, by today's definition of a Decepticon at least. He is best known for stealing the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, and trying to use it. That caused him to be horribly deformed, causing him to both grow in size and... well... ugliness..." He reached into his subspace and pulled out a datapad, then spent a few moments perusing its contents before holding it for Bumblebee to see.

The picture provided to him was of a huge, grotesque creature with wiring and cables running openly from his torso. Great curved horns sat atop his head with more decorative spikes jutting out all around like a crown of razor sharp thorns. He had long sword-like fingernails that looked as though they could easily slice through a bot. Bee was grateful this bot's face seemed to have been hiding amongst his own shadows, at least.

"Cybertron below me," he grimaced, "you're right. He looks like slag."

"Yes," Optimus confirmed. "Which is what I first thought when I saw him. I had only learned about him in legends, which predate even the first Cybertronian war... To give you some context of how long ago that was, this is the third Cybertronian war, and it's nine million years old already."

Bumblebee let out a low whistle. "Whoa..."

"But back to Liege Maximo and Magnitude... Well..." Optimus hesitated, struggling to figure out what to say. "I don't know what to tell you, Bumblebee... I... Seeing Liege Maximo... the amount of fear inside me... It was the first time I ran in my entire life." His voice cracked on the word "life" and his optics began welling up with coolant. "I ran and never looked back. I did what I could to sever ties with Magnitude, broke away from the group, severed _any_ connection I had with them." The leader's facial features twisted with grief, despite his attempts to save face. "I... very much regret it to this day." He looked away once again. "After all of that, I was able to get a job a with my brother, Dion. Nothing glamorous, just unloading and loading up shipments of energon to and from the dock where I worked. And for a while, it was nice. I met Elita-One there."

He shifted his gaze to the ground and wiped away at the built up coolant before leaning forward to rest his elbows on his thighs. "Primus, I miss her. But regardless, it was a nice life... for a while. Next came rumors. Rumors of a new batch of Cybertronians that could fly, without alternate modes. That was a big deal back then. The only Cybertronians that could fly needed either an alternate mode that could fly, or they were a pilot. Anyways, the rumors reached us. Dion and I weren't really worried about them, but Elita-One heard a rumor that they had an army that had attacked a couple other docks. Again, we disregarded the rumors. But... then they visited us. I was personally greeted by Megatron himself.

"He wanted to store some of his... 'wares'... in the warehouse I was working at. And those 'wares' he wanted to store were the first Decepticon soldiers. Once he knew we dealt with energon, he ordered the attack. All of the workers were either offlined or severely injured. A group of Cybertronians came to my rescue and got me to a repair bay, but they had repairs that were pouring in since the day before. But that didn't stop my mentor: Alpha Trion.

"Alpha Trion was able to both repair and upgrade me into who I am today. Heh." He paused for a moment. "It was rather interesting. Only a few others know that Alpha Trion was there to ensure that I came into his care. He wanted to make sure that he was able to give me the Matrix of Leadership, and mentor me into becoming the next Prime. I refused at first, but he had an interesting argument. He told me that he had been following the leader of the newfound Decepticons for a while now. He told me that I had a prior connection with Megatron before. Of course I argued with him. I had never had any relations with a guy named Megatron, at least not that I could have remembered.

"But then Alpha Trion showed me pictures of me with Magnitude. Confused, I went through them. As I moved through them, I noticed that they were focused on Magnitude. The timestamps on the photos were clear. All of them ranging from Magnitude and I working together, to the day he was approached by the transformer, to the day I found out Magnitude was being mentored by Liege Maximo, and his gradual evolution under his tutelage to become Megatron." Optimus sniffed and held back more coolant from rising.

"I... didn't believe it at first. I tried to find a rational explanation to prove it wasn't Magnitude. But... I couldn't find any. The more I tried, the more it made sense. The more I realized that Alpha Trion was speaking the truth. I... eventually had to come to termswith that. But Alpha Trion is wiser than I can ever give him credit for. He told me something very intriguing that day. He told me that I was the best chance of bringing peace back to Cybertron. Not because I was the strongest, nor the fastest, nor the smartest. It was because I knew Magnitude best. That I was the one that had the best chance to snap him out of Liege Maximo's grasp. And ever since then, that has been my goal. To see my best from again."

Bumblebee stared up at him with sympathy and awe, his mind still working away at the story Optimus provided him. To think he had been going all this time, carrying a history like that and keeping it to himself... The minibot felt heavy after all that. He couldn't imagine how Optimus Prime might have been feeling.

His leader got to his peds and turned to him, offering a servo to help him up. "I hope I didn't bore you too much, Bumblebee."

The minibot gently took hold of the offered servo, letting Optimus help him up. "No... Not at all..." he said quietly. "Thank you, sir."

The Autobot commander smiled down at him. "You're welcome." He proceeded to close his mask. "Is there anything else you have questions about?"

"Not... Not that I can remember. You've given me a lot to think about."

"Alright. If you need anything else, I'll be in the repair bay. I need to make sure that everyone is doing better. Take care, Bumblebee."

Bee watched as Optimus started his walk back to the medbay. Before he got too far, he called over, "Remember to take a break some time, sir."

He heard Prime heave a single laugh of appreciation. "Thank you, Bumblebee. I'll take one when I get the chance."

Once he was out of sight, Bee turned back to the horizon. The sun was halfway hidden by this point and casting a beautiful variety of reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks in the sky. The minibot simply lost himself in the colors as he continued working away at the origin story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it was at this point in time that my boyfriend and I decided that this was not going to be a oneshot. This is just the beginning ark of a whole slew of stories. There's so much we want to do and explore with this particular storyline.
> 
> So I hope you guys enjoy this enough to stick around for the rest of it! Because it only gets better from here!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please do feel free to leave comments. I enjoy reading them.


	6. Stone Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bumblebee must confront his leader.

Another week passed and Bumblebee once more went to meet up with Bombshell, four energon cubes in servo. Doubts and unsettled thoughts swirled within his mind as he walked to the new designated meeting spot. Prowl was close at hand to finding out who it was taking all those energon cubes. Bee was so nervous about getting caught now, he had struggled to bring himself to take this session’s fee.

He felt so on edge. Close to having another minor freak out. He took deep intakes as he trudged along through the arid, rocky fields toward the ravine Bombshell was waiting in. He needed this. He needed this. So then why did he have to force himself forward now? Why was he scared? He was getting help, this wasn’t _wrong_. It’s not wrong.

It wasn’t long before Bumblebee reached the ravine. Bombshell spotted him from a hole he’d made himself in one of the cliff sides. He smirked behind his mask. There was the fee and there was the little Autobot. Right on schedule. Time to put the rest of the plan into action. He crawled out from the hole and flew down to meet him, transforming and landing in front of him once close enough. He extended his arms toward Bee expectantly. “Welcome, Yellow One,” he greeted. “The payment, if you please.”

Bumblebee hesitated, but handed the cubes over. “Bombshell,” he started slowly, “I… hate to say it, but I think… I think maybe this should be our last session.”

The Insecticon cocked his head to the side curiously. “Really? How so?”

“You’ve really been a great help, and I’m grateful you’ve been kind enough to provide it,” the minibot said quickly before slowing down again and grimacing, “but… the others have noticed the energon going missing… and Prowl is on the case, trying to figure out who’s doing it. This is going to look really bad for me, even though I have the best of intentions…”

Bombshell hummed, pretending to look thoughtful. “That is a predicament… There may be a work around, but I’ll have to think of one…” He deposited the cubes off to the side, straightened up his posture once more and clasped his hands behind his back. “But for now, let’s begin the session, shall we?”

Bee was about to respond when a new voice suddenly spoke up.

“Yes, let’s begin. I’m interested to see what is going on here.”

The minibot jumped and whipped around to face… Optimus Prime, whom had stepped out from around a rocky corner behind him. He widened his optics and felt his spark skip a pulse. “O-Optimus!” He squeaked, panic messing with his voice box.

His leader glared down at him with a look that sent shivers through Bumblebee’s wiring. “I’m very disappointed in you.”

Bombshell watched, undisturbed by the turn of events. “My, my,” he mused. “Whatever will you do in the face of your leader? He seems very upset.”

The minibot glanced back at Bombshell before turning his attention back up to Prime. “Optimus, I-I know what this looks like, but I needed it! The rest Ratchet said I needed didn’t help! I had to do _something_!” He had to understand! He--

“You have disappointed me for the last time,” the Autobot commander said as he drew his ion blaster and took aim at his soldier.

Bumblebee shrunk back, his spark pulsing rapidly and his optics tearing up with horror. He felt Bombshell lean over to whisper beside his head.

“I think you should _run_ , Yellow One.”

“No! Prime, please!” He begged. “You know me! I’m not a traitor--!”

Optimus fired. The blast connected with Bee’s shoulder, making the young mech shout and clutch at the wound before he scrambled for cover to avoid more shots.

Still, Bombshell stood there, ever observing. “You know, since he now knows that you are a traitor, he isn’t going to stop until you are offline,” he pointed out nonchalantly. “You have two options, Yellow One. You could run… or you could… fight him…”

“I can’t fight Optimus! That’ll make me a traitor for sure!”

“Well, it’s either that or you will be terminated. He’s already branded you now. It looks as if there is no going back.”

“Show yourself, traitor!” Prime bellowed, firing several more shots at Bumblebee’s cover.

The minibot flinched as his cover exploded into pieces, and wasted no time in bolting to find more. He cringed as he heard his leader shout after him while continuing to shoot at him.

“I’m very disappointed with you!”

Bumblebee’s spark felt like it was going to shatter from hearing those words alone. No… No, why couldn’t he understand? This wasn’t how this was supposed to turn out!

The Insecticon resisted the urge to roll his optics. “Oh, come now, Yellow One. What are you hoping to achieve by hiding where he can find you?”

“He’s my _leader_!” Bee yelled. “I can’t fight him!” He yelped as Optimus reached out and grabbed firm hold of his arm, pulling him out from the rock he was cowering behind. His leader was so much stronger than he was. Try as he might to struggle against him, even going as far as to pound a fist against Optimus’ arm, he couldn’t break free.

This was pathetic. Bombshell had thought the little Autobot might have been ready for this, but alas. It appeared he was wrong. “Well, since you feel as much, I think I will leave you two by yourselves for a while.” With that, he transformed and flew up to the top of a cliff to watch from a vantage point.

“Bombshell, please! Help!” Bee begged, trying not to cry.

The “therapist” settled down on the ledge and peered down at them. “Hmm… No.”

Prime tucked away his blaster and raised his free servo back to charge a punch. “You’ve disappointed me for the last time,” he repeated.

The young bot hitched a panicked breath. This can’t happen! Self-preservation making him act without thinking, Bumblebee reached for his blaster with his free servo and shot at Prime’s shoulder.

The leader flinched from the blow and let go of his subordinate’s arm and glared down at him as Bumblebee staggered from the landing and hurriedly backed up, now clutching his blaster with both hands and continuing to point it at Prime, his grip shaky. “You think you can harm me, traitor?”

“You’re not leaving me any choice, Optimus!” Bee choked out. “You’re not listening to me!”

Prime appeared to pause for a minute as if processing something. After a bit, he speaks up again. “You’re a _coward_. You won’t shoot me. There’s no way that you can, even after all you’ve done. You’ve stolen energon, teamed up with an Insecticon, and now you’ve shot your commanding officer. I suppose you have good reason to. No one at base could help you, and it’s clear that I… Optimus Prime… have failed to help you. So now you’ve stooped to turning on us. I’m sure you know this, but now that you are against us, I’m afraid...” He pulled out his ion blaster once more and returned Bee’s aim. “...you must be terminated.”

Bumblebee gritted his denta and continued trying to fight back tears, but that was growing increasingly difficult. “Optimus… I can’t let you offline me…” If someone would have told Bumblebee that one day he’d be considered a war criminal by his own commander and that he’d be fighting for his life, he would have told them to get lost. Yet here he was. Shooting at his beloved leader’s gun arm so he wouldn’t fire back.

Optimus yelped as his hand was shot, causing him to drop his ion blaster. He examined the damage for a moment, then glared at Bumblebee again. He was motionless once again as if he was processing something before he exchanged his hand for his energon axe. “You cannot stop the inevitable.”

The minibot backed up several more paces as he continued firing at his leader’s aggressing arm. “Why won’t you let me explain myself?! Why can’t you understand?!”

Prime stepped heavily toward him as the youth tried to retreat, feeling his housing getting hit by Bee’s blaster fire—which made him twitch with each shot—but in the end it wasn’t enough to get him to stop. Bee’s shouting, however, made him pause again to process. “Because I have seen enough. You don’t need to explain anything.” He raised his axe to strike him down. “You are a traitor and the evidence is here to see.”

Bumblebee shouted with fear and instinctively flinched, raising his blaster and tightening his grip on his weapon which accidentally set it off. Optimus Prime yelled with pain as the shot from the minibot’s weapon struck him in the optic, making him drop to one knee and grip his face. Bee gasped as he looked up and took in his handiwork, glancing from Prime to his blaster. He shakily threw the weapon on the ground, turned tail, and bolted away.

“I’m sorry!!” He screamed.

The Autobot commander groaned as he got back up to his peds, his half-blindness causing him to stumble a tad before he regained his balance and fully straightened up. He took some time to scan the area to figure out where Bee ran off to.

Bombshell sat up a bit. Well this had certainly taken a turn. Perhaps this event was salvageable after all. The Insecticon flew down to keep pace beside the fleeing Autobot. “You do know he’s not going to stop now, right?”

The built up tears in Bee’s optics finally broke free and streamed down his faceplate, his breathing suggesting he was not far from having a mental breakdown. “I really am a traitor now…! Everyone will be hunting for me…! I can’t go back…!”

As if too emphasize this, Optimus bellowed from out of sight behind them, “WHERE ARE YOU, TRAITOR?!”

“It would seem that way, wouldn’t it? So… why not go all the way?” Bombshell pushed. “You know Prime best. And you know that he won’t stop. You may have a better chance than even… well… Megatron. Not to compare you to him, to be sure. Megatron is his own mess that can deal with itself. Right now, you need to finish the job that you have begun.”

“I have to _kill_ Prime?!” Bee shrieked.

“A strange sentiment, I know… but what other option do you possess? You are right to question the thought. But think for a moment. Remember Kickback? The anguish he was in?”

All still too vividly. It wasn’t a thought Bumblebee wished to dwell on. “B… B-But he’s not out of control! He’s just…! He’s just angry!”

“Oh, come now,” the rhinoceros beetle scoffed. “You shot him in the face of all places. _And_ that’s just the tip of the iceberg, I believe the human saying is. Imagine how Prime must be feeling though, in his mind and in his spark. It must pain him _dearly_ to know that one of his trusted comrades betrayed him by… stealing energon, colluding with myself, and _attacking_ him.” He smirked as his words caused the minibot to cringe and whimper. “But all that aside, there is an aspect that you also must consider.”

“What’s that…?” The Yellow One croaked out.

“Do you really think that Prime will stop at just you?”

Large and furious sounding footsteps could be heard approaching them from behind. “SHOW YOURSELF!!”

“Think of your other comrades,” Bombshell continued. “One kill is merely a tipping point for someone in grief. Who knows if he will kill others that try to reach out to help him? Why take the chance?”

It was scary how much sense that made to Bumblebee. He couldn’t believe he actually considered the thought, but it really did seem like the only way to get out of this alive. Right. He had no other choice. Bee took a deep breath, then stopped and turned on his heels to face the oncoming Prime. While he waited for him to catch up, the minibot looked around at his surroundings. Spotting a large chunk of rock on a ledge, loose and almost ready to fall, he began to climb up the ravine cliff-face to get to the ledge. “If I don’t have my blaster, this will just have to do…” He muttered to himself.

Optimus soon came into view and caught sight of him with his one good optic, the other dark, burnt, and sparking from the shot. “There you are, _traitor_ ,” he spat, approaching the cliff-face directly under the minibot and ascending after him once his axe was put away. “You’ve disappointed me for the last time.”

Why did he feel the need to keep _repeating that_? Did he really hate Bumblebee that much now? The Autobot grunted as he heaved himself onto the ledge and wasted no time in bracing himself against the wall behind the loose rock to kick away at it. The louder Prime’s movements became, the more desperate he grew, until he gave one final thrust and dislodged the rock, sending it falling into the bot below.

Optimus looked up in time to shout a shocked, “No!” before it hit him head on, making him lose his grip and sending him plummeting back down to the ground. A decent-sized dust cloud kicked up from the impact and covered the result of Bee’s work. That didn’t stop the minibot from carefully peering over the ledge to get a look at the wreckage, panting and waiting to determine his leader’s fate. A part of him hoped dearly that his leader made it through the event.

As the dust settled, his unmoving body came into view with rock pieces scattered on and around him, but the damage couldn’t quite be determined. Bombshell frowned and quietly muttered to himself. “Huh. I would have thought that Megatron would have made a clone of Prime a bit more--”

With a groan, Optimus slowly moved the rocks on top of him off and worked to rise to his peds once again.

“Ah, that’s more like it.”

By the time Optimus Prime finished stumbling back to full height, the damage was clear to see. His chestpiece was shattered, most of it gone and revealing the internal mechanics that were hidden underneath the plating that was once there. One of his arms was now missing, and some of his back plating was seriously cracked.

Bumblebee had gritted his denta when his leader began moving the rocks off of himself, and swiftly scurried down the cliff, transforming the second he touched ground and speeding back the way they came.

Taking notice of the movement, Prime half-ran, half-staggered after him. An erratic noise came from him in short bursts, as if he was attempting speech. But if he was, his voice box was much too damaged as well to allow him the ability.

“Soon,” Bee puffed quietly, “He’ll be out of his misery soon… Just a few more hits…” He didn’t stop to think about what he just allowed to escape his mouth. Just after he finished, he spotted his blaster laying on the ground where he’d dropped it earlier. He transformed to robot mode once he was a few yards away, pushing off the ground to launch himself into a tuck and roll, and grabbing the blaster as he did. Once out of the roll, he spun around and took aim at Optimus.

Bombshell, who followed high in the air above to continue watching, leaned his head forward and buzzed with anticipation. “Come on, Yellow One…” He quietly encouraged. “Do it!”

Bee steels himself and shifts his aim to his leader’s exposed inner chest as Prime extends an arm toward him despite not being close enough to grab him. He takes in a breath and holds it, then fires several rounds. Optimus stopped his run and recoiled backwards a few steps upon being hit. He dropped his gaze to examine where the shots hit. He then looked up at the minibot once more and took another step in an attempt to resume pursuit.

Bumblebee let fly several more shots, even going so far as to aim for his leader’s head. “Please just stop, sir…!” He begged. Just stop and let it end…

Some of the shots pierced right through the Prime and hit the rocks behind him. Abruptly, he stopped and crumpled to his knees, his extended arm dropping to his side and his head hanging for a brief moment before he weakly raised it one last time to stare into the minibot’s optics. Shakily, he reached out to him and attempted to speak. There was static, then a warped and quiet, “Wh-hy…?” before his color faded to a gunmetal grey and the light from his one good optic died. His arm was the first to drop, then the rest of him followed, kicking up a small dust cloud as he hit the ground with a creaky thud.

...It was done. Prime… Bumblebee’s optics widened as he stared with mortification at the corpse of his beloved Optimus Prime, the reality of what just happened set in. …Prime was dead… by _Bumblebee’s_ servos… He hitched a breath as his legs gave way and his servos trembled violently, letting his blaster fall to the ground once again. It became difficult to keep a regular intake as his spark pulse quickened dramatically, his fuel pump churning so much that he felt like at any moment his energon would come spilling out. Coolant streamed like waterfalls down his cheeks as he slowly rose his hands up to clutch the sides of his head, then let out a piercing scream of anguish.

Bombshell, however, was flitting about ecstatically in the air above him, absolutely gleeful about what he just witnessed. His head jerked back and forth between Bumblebee and the clone, softly giggling like his brothers while the Yellow One screamed. He did it! He actually brought himself to slay the false Prime, despite believing it was actually his leader! He was ready. He had to be. It was time. Now the hard part needed to be put into motion.

The Insecticon swiftly contained himself, then flew down and transformed, landing on the ground in robot mode. He strode calmly over to Bumblebee and picked up his blaster for him. “That was… quite a show of strength,” he complimented, shifting his gaze to the lifeless husk. “I’m quite impressed at the progress you have made. These… sessions… have done you well.” He turned his attention back to Bee and knelt in front of him. “Now… there is something you must realize, Yellow One.”

The Autobot slowly tore his optics from the clone and met Bombshell’s gaze, pathetic as he struggled for breath and whimpered through his sobs.

“The Prime you killed over there…” He held up Bee’s blaster in offering and leaned forward, lowering his voice to a low murmur. “…was not really Optimus Prime.”

The other made no move to take the weapon. “…Wh…What…?”

“I needed a… resource… to aid in your development, Yellow One,” the Insecticon admitted, “so I made an inquiry, and found that the Decepticons had made a clone of Prime. Now, why they made a clone of Prime is beyond me, but this clone that you have overpowered and brought down shows me just how much progress you have made. And for that I am proud of you.” Bombshell gave Bumblebee’s helm a couple firm pats, making the Autobot wince. “ _But…_ ” He paused and eyed Bee for a reaction.

The minibot stared at him, too dumbfounded and freaked out from the whole ordeal to question him or even think to voice an opposition of the method Bombshell used.

The rhinoceros beetle retracted the offered blaster and stood back up. “Well, I don’t know if you’re ready for this,” he finished, turning to face the husk again.

Bumblebee opened and closed his mouth a few times and struggled to get his thoughts and voice box to cooperate. Eventually he got out the word, “Ready…?”

Bombshell smirked underneath his mask. “Why, to face your _true fears_ , of course,” he said slyly. “Everything we have done was to… build up your courage. All fears must be faced with courage, and when you started your courage was weak, but _now…_ ” He motioned to the clone. “Look at what you’ve accomplished. You have faced an imitation of your fears. And you _won_!”

The Yellow One shifted his attention back to the corpse, then slowly rose to his peds, swiping a fist across his faceplate to wipe away the coolant. “Then why does this feel so _wrong…_?” He sniffled.

The Insecticon spun on his heels and cocked his head to the side, as if contemplating the question, then he extended the hand holding Bee’s blaster once again for him to take it back. “Because you know you’re not done yet.”

Bee hesitantly and gingerly took it as if it would bite him and tucked it away. “When will I be done…?”

“Well, that’s where I’m a bit hesitant… because this next step… will be your final step. However… I’m not sure that you are ready for it. Yet.”

“That’ll… be saved for… for next time, then…?” Bee asked cautiously.

“That depends on you,” he replied. “There is no session that I can think of that can help you with your final step. You can keep coming back, but… that is merely a distraction.”

The minibot blinked. “Huh? Then what’s the final step?”

Bombshell took in a breath, paused—trying to figure out a way to word his answer without giving away his excitement—then said, “Unfortunately, Yellow One… You must face down Optimus Prime just as you have faced this clone.”

Bumblebee fixed him with a horrified expression and backed away. “Wh—?! No!! Are you trying to make me a traitor for real?! _This_ was bad enough!” He gestured wildly to the husk. “I’m not killing the real deal!”

The Insecticon raised an optic ridge at him. “Oh? So you won’t? You know as well as I that that’s a lie. I’m not going to use any form of persuasion to tell you why. But know this, Yellow One: you _will_ kill Optimus Prime. Not because you want to,” he said calmly, taking a step toward him and fixing the minibot with an intense gaze, “but because you know that you will _need_ to. To do otherwise is to submit yourself to fear… and to do that is to do all Autobots injustice. To do that is even a disgrace to everything you stand for.”

The Autobot gave him a weak and disturbed glare. “S...Say what you want, but I’m not killing my leader! I won’t!” With that, he whipped around and began stalking back to the Ark.

Bombshell turned back to the wreckage. “Suit yourself, if that’s the regret you want to live with. But mark my words, Yellow One. The day will come. You will do it. And you _won’t_ be ready for it.”

The minibot clenched his digits tightly and winced, but kept walking. He took deep breaths and tried to put Bombshell’s words out of his mind.

...However he found himself unsuccessful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done! Almost done! 
> 
> *happy dance*
> 
> One more chapter to transfer over and then this will be complete and I can move on to Prowl and Jazz's arc. Plenty of shipping and miscellaneous adventures to be had in that.
> 
> That's not to say I don't like this. If I didn't love it, I wouldn't post it. This was a ton of fun to make and I feel bad for what we've done to Bee. ;u;
> 
> It will make a comeback in the future. Just you wait.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please leave comments, thoughts, and opinions. I enjoy reading them.


	7. Working Past the Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bumblebee faces his fears

Bombshell’s words bounced around in Bumblebee’s head, echoing and making it hard to think.

_**To do otherwise is to submit yourself to fear. The day will come… and you won’t be ready for it. And to do that is even a disgrace to everything you stand for. If that’s the regret you want to live with…** _

The minibot shook his head and roughly patted the sides of his helm. “No… I don’t want to…” He whimpered, desperate to get Bombshell’s voice to stop. “I’ll find another way to overcome this. There… There has to be…” He strained his mind to think of some way he could fix this mess, but his processor was uncooperative. Stuck on the rhinoceros beetle’s echoes. His expression dropped to one of fear. “Isn’t there…? …I have to kill Optimus…?”

_**I have learned many things in life. One of those things is to let go of things you once cared about when they turn against you.** _

Bee released a shaky breath. “He turned on us once… It… could happen again…” The vivid image that Bombshell and Shrapnel planted in his head during the first therapy session seemingly flashed in his vision, Optimus standing over his dead soldiers and tearing them apart one-by-one, out of control. “He could kill us all…”

_**If you want to see better results, focusing on the problem would be better.** _

“The problem… The problem is… Optimus Prime’s a threat to everyone’s safety.” Bee grimaced. “...I have to do it…”

_**All fears must be faced with courage. You have faced an imitation of your fears… and you WON.** _

Bumblebee stopped walking and stared at his path ahead with a depressed look for a moment before it suddenly solidified into one of determination. “I can do this. For the good of the Autobots. I have to do this…” With purpose, his travel back to the Ark continued. Dark clouds began to gather overhead and a new voice replaced Bombshell’s. Optimus Prime’s.

_**I think you’re right… I have had a lot of chances to offline Megatron.** _

“You have… but you haven’t.”

_**That has been my goal… to see my best friend again.** _

Bumblebee’s lips tightened. “Look I sympathize, Prime, I really do, but we can’t just keep clashing with Megatron like this! Not if he’s going to pit you against us!”

Bombshell’s voice chimed in one more time. _**Right now, you need to finish the job that you have begun.**_

“Today,” the minibot stated decidedly. “This fear ends _today_.”

As the Ark came into view, a few droplets of rain began to make their descent, sprinkling whatever was beneath the clouds and warning that it was only going to get worse. Bumblebee entered the Autobot base and was greeted by no one. It was oddly quiet and seemingly deserted. For a moment a horrible feeling ran through his systems, but then he made out some shouting coming from one of the halls. He ventured further into the base, following the noise.

The shouting got louder and more distinct as he approached a section of hall that looked as if it had gone through a bit of an explosion, its door very much missing and the metal frame bent and singed. The shouting was Optimus and his voice was traveling from within the room.

“So let me get this straight! Jazz informed you to stop! And you **didn’t**?!”

Bee heard Cliffjumper answer ashamedly, “Um… No…”

“Well,” Sideswipe chipped in nervously, “you have to understand… Uh… It was all in good fun… Heh…”

The yellow minibot stopped at the missing door and began watching the scene with a small scowl.

Prime lost it with Sideswipe’s excuse and intensified his glower. “You _both_ took an _experimental_ device from Wheeljack’s lab!! One that has now clearly _destroyed_ a room in our base and has sent your teammates to an already **full** medbay!! And you call that ‘ **fun** ’?!”

The red mechs flinched and remained silent.

The Autobot leader huffed. “I thought so.” He turned to a gaping hole in the wall behind him leading to the outside, and let out a sigh. “Now, I know that you two didn’t mean to cause any harm. But you must understand… I cannot allow this type of behavior to continue without consequences.”

The sudden image of Cliffjumper and Sideswipe being ripped apart mercilessly flashed in Bumblebee’s vision. He couldn’t let that happen. “Optimus, sir,” he spoke up.

His commander whipped around to face him with a sharp, “What?!” And Sideswipe and Cliffjumper merely turned their heads to look at him.

But the minibot stood his ground and didn’t react. “I need to talk with you privately. It’s important information regarding our safety.”

Optimus seemingly calmed himself. “Oh… Bumblebee. I’m sorry for shouting. Can it wait? I have to take care of this.”

Absolutely not. “I’m afraid it can’t wait, sir.”

Prime sighed and relented. “Very well.” He then threw another glare at the red bots, making them stiffen. “You two stay _here_. I’ll be back shortly.”

The thought of disobeying him while he was as upset as he was made their sparks and frames tremble slightly.

Bumblebee threw his brother a glance before he led Optimus Prime away from them, out through the hole in the wall leading outside the base, and around to a forested area where he’s sure they won’t be seen or interrupted. The rain had intensified to a downpour by this point, drenching them as they went.

“We’re… walking a bit far,” he heard his leader say behind him. “Do we need to go this far to walk in private? Is everything okay, Bumblebee?”

Bee stopped once he was satisfied with their location and turned to face his commander, a stiffly determined expression set on his faceplate. “I don’t want to be interrupted by anyone.” He paused and grimaced, letting his expression show his burden. “I’ve had a lot of thinking to do this last month while I worked to get over my fears. About what the issue is and how I could move past it. I’ve learned that it’s not as simple as getting more courage… To get better, I have to confront the problem head on.”

Prime furrowed his optic ridges. Where was this going? “I… I’m sorry, Bumblebee. I don’t follow.”

The minibot reached for where his weapon was stowed, pulled it out, and aimed it at his commander, startling him. “...I’m sorry, sir. Please don’t mistake this for hatred… but the problem is you could be turned against the team again. You’re dangerous.”

Optimus took a small step back and raised his hands as a gesture to get Bee to stop. “Bu-Bumblebee? What are you doing?” He stammered. This had to be some sort of wild prank! Bumblebee would never think to pull something like this, though.

“Please don’t make this harder than it already is. I have to do this for the good of the Autobots. I can’t let Megatron have another chance to turn you against us… We wouldn’t survive… So… I have to terminate you…”

‘Terminate’?! Optimus took a moment to take in the minibot’s condition. His plating was scratched and dented and his shoulder had a large open wound. He’d obviously gotten into a scuffle with someone. Maybe his circuits got a little scrambled from the fight. Prime slowly lowered to a crouching position, readying himself to move quickly. “Bumblebee,” he said soothingly, “just lower the gun. We can work this out. We’re Autobots. Whatever is bothering you can be worked through. We can help you. That’s what we’re here for. We’re your friends. Your family.”

Bumblebee gritted his denta and placed a second servo on his blaster warningly, but his aim began to shake just a little. His gusto from earlier was starting to fail. “I know!” He shouted. “I love every single one of you! Which is why I _can’t_ let anyone suffer if you fell into Decepticon control again! _Especially_ you, Optimus! The things they would make you do… It would eat away at your spark… I _have_ to do this for _you_!”

Oh sparkling… “Bumblebee, the best thing you could do for me right now is to lower the gun and _talk_ to me.” The leader chanced taking a slow step forward as he talked. “Now, I understand that you are going through some stress. You said that this was going for about a month now? Why so long?”

“The rest Ratchet said I needed didn’t help…” The young mech answered, taking a step back. “I was still having those dreams… I… I heard that Bombshell knew a bunch about mental stuff… s-so I went to him to see if he could help… What he’s been doing for me has been so much more effective than just resting.”

Prime’s optics filled with horror at this piece of news. Or rather that one name in particular. “Wait, you’d been seeing Bombshell? Bumblebee, whatever he’s told you, know that it was never in your best interests. Put the gun down and let me help you.” He reached a servo out to him.

“Optimus, I _can’t_ be scared of you anymore! I have to do this!” The young bot grimaced again. “Please forgive me…” That said, he open fired at Optimus’ chestpiece.

It wasn’t enough to really do much damage or even crack his plating, but it caught the Prime by surprise, so he staggered a little from the blast. “Bumblebee, wait! Listen to me!”

Bee’s grip got even shakier. “Sir, please…!” He begged. “This is hard enough as is…!” He let loose another shot, trying for Prime’s chestplate again, but his trembling aim made it go for Optimus’ shoulder instead.

The Autobot leader took the blast, making him spin and fall to his servos and knees, facing away from the minibot. He looked down at himself to check how bad the shots were. He was relieved that the pain his nervecircuits were signaling wasn’t shown on his plating. It seemed Bee’s blaster wouldn’t be able to handle the task he was attempting to perform.

Meanwhile behind him, Bee took notice of how badly he himself was shaking and lowered his weapon, raising a servo to his forehead and muttering to himself. “Get it together, Bumblebee… It’s for the best, remember…? Just… J-Just…” He trailed off and took in several deep breaths, then looked to Optimus again and slowly approached him.

Prime didn’t move. “B… Bumblebee… Please…” he quietly begged. “Listen to reason… Let me help you.”

The minibot stopped beside him and hesitated. “I don’t… I don’t want to do this, Optimus,” he croaked. “But I don’t know how else to fix this…”

The commander looked over his shoulder and noticed how close his soldier was. He saw an opportunity and promptly took it. Whipping around, he grabbed at Bee’s weapon and wrestled it out of his servos.

Bumblebee shouted and panicked, taken aback by the sudden action. He tried to keep the blaster in his grasp, but his strength was no match at all for his leader’s and he swiftly lost it. His plating rattled as he took a step back and watched the older mech stand and **chuck** it as far away as he possibly could. He stared up at Optimus Prime with utmost fear and threw small glances at their surroundings to see if there was anything he could use like he did back at the canyon. If there was, the downpour made it impossible to see it.

Once he was done throwing away Bee’s weapon, Optimus turned back to face Bumblebee once again and knelt to put himself closer to the minibot’s level. “Now, Bumblebee,” he started firmly, then softened up but still remained insistent. “Let me _help_ you. _We_ , your family, can _help you_. Please. You don’t have to put yourself through this. Whatever Bombshell has done hasn’t been for anything but self-interest. So, please. Talk to me. I… don’t know what I can do specifically, but by my Matrix, I will do everything in my power to help you overcome this.”

Bumblebee took another step back, his intakes heavy and uneven. “I just want the nightmares to stop,” he whimpered, coolant welling up beneath his optics. “I don’t want to be afraid of you… This is torture, Optimus…”

“Then please listen to me, Bee.” He extended a servo toward the young bot. “Think about why you’re scared. Several weeks ago, this never bothered you to the extent it has now. Why do you think that is?”

Bee shrunk down a bit and wracked his processor to find an answer for his beloved and mildly intimidating leader. It was true. He was fine until recently. He had actually been getting better. But now all that skittishness had come racing back. What had happened to cause that? …That… “He… Bombshell… had a replica of you attack me…” He whispered so quietly he was barely audible above the rain and Optimus really had to strain his audio receptors. “The replica said I was a traitor and didn’t deserve to live after…” He trailed off and bit back a sob as he brought up his arms to hug himself. “I couldn’t get it to stop… I had to offline it to… a-and I was so…! Bombshell made me think it was really you until everything was over…! Then he said it was a test to check my progress…”

Optimus felt an aching knot form in his spark and he fixed the young bot with an empathetic expression. “Bumblebee, Bombshell has been known to get inside others’ heads to get what he wants. He is cunning. And dangerous that way.” He scooted forward a little closer to the minibot and asked, “Have I ever willingly put any of you in any circumstances that threatened the lives of you and your brothers-in-arms?”

Bumblebee looked up into Prime’s optics and stared, seeing nothing but compassion and gentleness within them. The true answer that he knew all too well was: No. Prime had never done that. The gravity of his actions suddenly fell on him and punched him in the spark, making his legs fail him. He dropped to his knees, grasped the sides of his helm, and bawled. “I’m sorry, Optimus…! I’m sorry…!”

His leader knelt closer to Bee and engulfed him in a loving embrace. “I know, Bumblebee,” he murmured. “I know.” The knot in his spark tightened as he felt the youth cling to him and his sobs and repeated apologies echo through his own frame. This felt like a personal failure. This bot who was like a son to him had been going through all this torment for a month and Optimus hadn’t known. He should have been more active in getting the minibot the assistance he needed. He should have checked in more. Maybe then this could have been avoided.

Eventually Bumblebee’s crying calmed to sniffling and he spoke up again, his voice hoarse, “I never should’ve went to Bombshell for help… I was so desperate, I wasn’t thinking…”

Optimus Prime was quiet for a few more moments as he thought, then he came up with an idea. “Hey, let’s go inside and dry off, and you can vent at me however long you want. Then we can figure out what we can do to fix this situation.” He shifted his head to look down at Bee. “Does that sound like a plan?”

Bumblebee looked up at him and nodded, wiping his tears with a fist. “Yes, sir… Thank you, sir…”

“Good.” The leader let go of the young mech, only to then pick him up and straighten up to carry him like a father would his child. The minibot made no movement to resist, but rather rested his head on Prime’s shoulder and tried to relax. The walk back to the Ark was quiet. It wasn’t until they were in and walking down one of the halls that they encountered someone. Prowl.

The Autocop walked up to them with his optics set solidly on Optimus. “Prime, I figured it out. I found out who—” He stopped upon flicking his gaze to Bumblebee and catching sight of the coolant residue on his faceplate. “Oh… I’ll…”

“I think it can wait, Prowl,” Optimus replied.

“Yeah…” The third-in-command agreed. “I think it can. I’m sorry, Bumblebee. Please feel better.” He gave the minibot a small nod before turning around and walking away.

The minibot sniffed. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to look Prowl in the face, so had directed his gaze to Optimus’ chestplating. He found it mildly interesting that he couldn’t tell where his shots landed. “Did I hit you anywhere vital, sir…?” He checked.

“No, nowhere vital,” Prime answered. “Though I will say, it was rather sudden. But you should know that it takes a lot more than blaster fire to take me down.” He brought them to the bustling medbay. When Hoist looked over and started to pause his current work, Prime shook his head and motioned for Hoist to keep fixing his current patient. Instead, he took Bumblebee to an empty portion of the bay and sat him down on a table before having a seat next to him. “So, tell me everything,” he encouraged. “Right from the start.”

And so Bee took a deep intake and did. He hesitated on the detail that Cliffjumper suggested Bombshell in the first place, but in the decides that no more secrets about this messshould be kept. All the while, his leader had sat patiently and listened. Bee ended the story at the bit where he went to confront Optimus, and he had to admit to himself that a weight had been lifted from his spark now that the truth was out. “That’s… everything that happened this month on my end,” he finished. “I know my actions say otherwise, but I wasn’t trying to betray the Autobots, Optimus Prime…”

Optimus was quiet for another moment as he did some more thinking. “That’s quite a lot of things that have happened within the past month. I know that you weren’t trying to be a traitor. You just wanted to see some results. And there is nothing wrong with that. But… you do have to know that there will be some consequences to this. Especially for sneaking energon out of the base. Those are precious resources, and I can’t let that go lightly… But I’ll figure out what to do about that later. Right now, I think we need to teach Bombshell what happens when he messes with one of our treasured Autobots.”

The young mech had nodded numbly when Prime mentioned consequences, knowing all too well he wasn’t above being punished for deliberate acts. Upon hearing Prime suggest getting back at Bombshell, however, he tilted his head to the side slightly with curiosity. “Do you… have something in mind?”

His leader fixed him with a sly look, smugness glinting in his optics. “I… may have something we can do. Listen very closely.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Bumblebee was trekking back to the Ark with Bombshell following in the air behind him.

“So, you have done it?” The Insecticon inquired once again just to be sure. “I applaud you, Yellow One. But then, one must ask: Why are we going to the Autobot base? What more could we gain from your former comrades?”

“Energon, of course,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Consider it a final ‘thank you’ present for everything you’ve done to help me.”

“And with Prime… gone… are you sure that any other Autobots there won’t be able to interfere?”

“Oh, we’re not taking the front entrance,” Bee said nonchalantly, throwing him a smirk over his shoulder. “We’re going through a secret passage I used to sneak the energon out. They won’t even know we’re there.”

“Ah, how interesting,” Bombshell mused. “I didn’t know that Autobots had secrets even amongst each other. What a fascinating insight. Where is this passage? Will we be able to fit in there at the same time?”

“Yeah, we’ll both fit in easily, being smaller bots and all. It’s just off to the side of the Ark.” He made a swerving motion to help his description. “You’ll see.” Once they reached the spot, he grabbed a panel and carefully wiggled it off, then nodded to the revealed entrance. “Guests first.”

Bombshell peered inside for a minute. “Hm… You would seem to know the way a bit better than I would… I appreciate the courtesy, but I feel that you should lead the way,” he said decisively.

Bee shrugged and set down the panel, then led the way in. “It’s a straight shot.”

The Insecticon followed, staying close behind Bumblebee. “So…” he started, morbid interest drenching his tone. “What was it like? To make the mighty Optimus Prime fall? What did you feel? I am curious.”

Bumblebee tilted his head slightly. “It was… relieving, in the end. All my stress and pain melted away. You were right, Bombshell. I had to gather my courage and make my move. My only wish is that I had done it sooner.”

The rhinoceros beetle grinned underneath his mask. “How _interesting_. You know, most Decepticons would **kill** to be in the position you are now. But all speculation aside, where is this energon? Is it nearby?”

“Just ahead.” The two emerged in the storage room and Bumblebee gestured to the stacks of cubes within. “Take what you like.”

Bombshell let his gaze wander the stash and flittered his wings in an attempt to contain himself. “Well, this is quite the mighty stash.” He began to examine the nearest stack. “I’m not sure if I can— Oof!” He had been ogling it so intensely he didn’t notice Optimus’ leg until he’d bumped into it. “What in Cybertron’s…” He trailed off as he slowly looked up the leg to see the rest of Optimus Prime, whom was glowering down at him. The Insecticon stiffened. “Y-Y-Yellow O-One… Y-You did o-offline the Prime… c-correct?” he stuttered.

Bee shuffled to stand guard in front of the opening they came from and grinned at him. “Did I say that? I don’t remember saying I put him offline. I only said the job was done.”

Optimus reached down and grabbed Bombshell by the base of his head, lifting him up so they’re at the same optic-level. “So, Bombshell… I understand you like to play games. You’ve been playing with Bumblebee for a while now, from what I’ve heard. Mind if I join in?”

Bombshell flailed and tried to pry Prime’s servo off of him as he shrieked to Bumblebee desperately. “Y-Ye-Yellow One! Help me!! Remember what I’ve done for you!!”

“What you did in the beginning did help,” the minibot admitted. “And I believed that you had some good in you. But…” A scowl took over his faceplate. “You tricked me, Bombshell. You took advantage of my situation and tried to get me to kill the bot I respect and admire the most.”

“I believe the ball’s in my court now,” Optimus grabbed one of the Insecticon’s legs with his free servo and let go of his head once he had a good grip, then he proceeded to fling Bombshell around like a rag doll, slamming him into the wall and ground several times before he chucked him at the opposite wall.

Bombshell took a moment to recover from the pounding he got and shake himself out, then glared up at the commander. “Yuh… You thhhhink you’ve wuh… won?” He whipped out his blaster and did what he could to take aim at the Prime, though his arm refused to cooperate. After some careful deliberation, he switched his target from Prime to the energon cubes and fired at them.

Optimus raised his arms to block what little he could of the blast, grunting as the explosion forced him to stagger backward.

Bumblebee flinched from the explosion and immediately rushed over to his leader, allowing the Insecticon time to transform into beetle form and book it for the open passageway. “Prime!”

Optimus, however, had swiftly recovered and pulled out his ion blaster to aim at Bombshell. “I told you, Bumblebee, it’ll take more than that to down me.” He took a few shots then promptly dashed after him, stopping at the entrance to fire down the tunnel after him.

One of the shots hit Bombshell square in his hindquarters, making him shriek and flail in the air to regain control of his flight and continue his escape. “Bombshell to Shrapnel! The Yellow One tricked us. Send the swarm. They are defenseless.”

“Deception! Deception!” Shrapnel snarled. “The swarm rises! Rises!”

Bumblebee grimaced upon hearing the Insecticon call for reinforcements. “So his brothers are alive. Figures he was lying about that, too…” He let out a sigh. “I’ve been so stupid…”

Optimus squinted after the Insecticon and the approaching distant swarm, then looked down at the minibot. “Quickly, Bumblebee. We need to rally who we can for the coming swarm of Insecticons. And do _not_ let the bots in the medbay join. They need rest, not more wounds.”

“Yes, sir!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bombshell made his way out of the base, but the shot he sustained from Prime’s ion blaster forced him to transform midair and fall heavily to the ground, skidding to a stop. He twisted as best he could to examine the wound and cursed under his breath. “Blasted Autobots. Blasted Autobots and their treachery.” He paused as soon as he heard the hum of Insecticon wings in the distance, then propped himself up on his elbows and sent out a broadcast to the swarm. “Insecticons! Heed my words! The Autobot’s energon supply is depleted! But we won’t stop there! Now we strike! We take the energon from their **circuits**! Flush them **dry**!!”

“You know, for an Insecticon, you speak rather eloquently. He may have been right for me to seek you out.”

Bombshell flipped over onto his back to see a bot had snuck up on him. “Wh-Who are you?”

“I am Sideways,” the new bot said tersely. “And I have a benefactor that is interested in your abilities. Now, please,” he paused to motion to a space bridge behind him that had appeared out of nowhere and promptly opened up, “come with me.”

Bombshell eyed the newly formed space bridge with suspicion. “And what if I refuse his offer? I don’t know who he is. Surely you cannot expect me to follow you blindly.”

The look Sideways fixed him made it clear he didn’t care. “Is that so? Well unfortunately for you, my young friend,” he drawled as he moved behind Bombshell and bent over. “My master doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” He proceeded to pick him up.

“Hey!” The Insecticon protested loudly, writhing in Sideways’ grip. “Put me down! What do you think you’re doing?!” His movements earned him no freedom and he was thrown through the space bridge.

Sideways closed the portal behind him, leaving Bombshell on the other side. He took a look around and noticed a small blaster laying on the ground not far from him. He picked it up and stowed it away then rubbed his servos together. “Now for phase two.” After transforming into his motorcycle alt mode, he took off back into the shadows of the forest.

Bombshell, meanwhile, found himself in a dimly lit chamber. He shook himself to clear away the after-effects of Sideway’s space bridge. “Where… Where am I?” He asked no one in particular.

An elderly human man suddenly announced his presence and startled him. …Or was he human? At this point, he had much more mechanical parts than organic. “Well well well. Straight to the point. Interesting.”

Bombshell stared down at him. “Wh… You’re Dr. Arkeville. Starscream kidnapped you and took you to Cybertron. I’m on Cybertron, aren’t I? How did you get out of Shockwave’s lab?”

“Very observant, too,” the old man smirked. “If you must know, I was able to get out by the help of Sideways and… well… I think he can introduce himself.” He motioned to the other end of the room.

“Who are you—” The question died in Bombshell’s mouth as he looked to where Dr. Arkeville had motioned… and then moved his gaze upward to stare into the face of the giant in the room leering down at him. “Oh… Slag…”

“ **Hello, Bombshell. I am Liege Maximo. And I have** _ **great**_ **plans in mind for you.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of Bombshell's Therapy Sessions! Holy crap, I actually finished it! Cake for everyone!
> 
> I have this notorious bad habit of not finishing fics, so this really tickles me pink. Thank you all so much for reading! In case you hadn't gotten the memo, this may be the end of this fic, but there will be other fics in future linked to it. Keep an eye out for those, they'll be great!
> 
> Like the one where Prowl and Jazz learn to get more cozy with each other. Those who ship the two, that fic will be candy for you.
> 
> For people who want to see Starscream turn his life around and succeed for once, there will be a fic for that too.
> 
> There's another, but that one's secret for now. Just know there will be alternate universe shenanigans.
> 
> They will all tie in with one another. I'll try to provide context so they each make sense, but that will be saved for a later date. TheThreeofDiamonds and I are taking things at a slow pace for life reasons.
> 
> Thanks again for reading! Please do leave comments, thoughts, and opinions! I love to read them and I'm kinda chatty.


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